Minister for Agriculture, Biosecurity, Food Safety and Rural Communities Damien O’Connor said the reorganisation would create a stronger focus on core responsibilities.
The entities would be called Fisheries New Zealand, Forestry New Zealand, Biosecurity New Zealand and New Zealand Food Safety.
“Our priority is to achieve greater clarity and unity of purpose for these areas. We are seeking enhanced visibility of government policy and regulatory activities and clearer lines of accountability and engagement for stakeholders.
“MPI will continue to meet the expectations of our international trading partners as the competent authority.”
Reorganisation of MPI’s functions will occur in the early part of 2018 and will be in place by April.
The estimated cost to implement the changes is $6.8 million to establish the four portfolio-based business units. Additional ongoing operating costs are estimated at $2.3m a year.
O’Connor said reprioritised money from the Primary Growth Partnership Fund will pay for the changes so there will be no additional cost to taxpayers.
Federated Farmers president Katie Milne said moving to four portfolio-based units within it is a pragmatic approach.
"We certainly didn’t want to see the upheaval and expense of a total carve-up of MPI.
"This course avoids wholesale disruption, preserves the ministry’s status as a competent authority for trading partners and certification agencies, and allows staff to get on with their jobs during the refocus," she said.
Milne was also pleased the cost of the move wasn’t as much as it could have been.
"Nevertheless, this is money taken from the Primary Growth Partnership Fund, so farmers will want to see value from the exercise in terms of more responsive and innovative business units, particularly in biosecurity."
National’s primary industries spokesperson Nathan Guy called the move wasteful and ill-conceived.
“It’s nothing more than a pointless rebranding exercise. We put these three agencies together in 2011 and it’s a complete waste of money to pull them apart again.
“The worst part of it is though, that the money is essentially being fleeced from the Primary Growth Partnership Fund – used for essential research and development – to pay for bureaucracy.
“It’s just a waste of taxpayers’ money which would have been better invested in growing our primary industries,” Guy said.
