Summerfruit New Zealand and the Meat Industry Association were the latest to sign the deed, joining 15 other industry sectors that had agreed to work with Government and each other to combat the threat of a pest or disease incursion.
Summerfruit NZ represented the collective interests of apricot, cherry, nectarine, peach and plum growers.
The value of the summerfruit industry approached $140 million last year and was well on the way to reaching its goal of being a $250m industry by 2035, its chairman Tim Jones said.
“Like all horticulture industries, Summerfruit NZ faces a large number of biosecurity threats that could damage the livelihoods of our growers.
“Biosecurity is an investment, not a cost.
“GIA creates a foundation for us to have a more informed interaction about the biosecurity system with the Ministry for Primary Industries and other GIA industry partners.
“This includes ways biosecurity might be improved, making recommendations for improvements where required, planning for the risk of any biosecurity incursion and taking a lead role in the event of an incursion.”
MIA chairman John Loughlin said “Biosecurity is fundamentally important to the NZ meat industry as it underpins our reputation for producing safe, high quality product.
“A large-scale biosecurity incursion like foot and mouth disease could devastate the meat sector and seriously impact the wider NZ economy.
“The recent Mycoplasma bovis incursion in South Canterbury highlights how even a relatively unknown disease can have a big impact on the industry.
“Customers increasingly demand meat and pharmaceutical products that have a disease-free status – maintaining NZ’s unique international biosecurity status gives our industry a major advantage.”
MIA represented meat processors and exporters and its members accounted for more than 99% of the meat processed in NZ.
The meat sector exports were worth almost $8 billion annually and were NZ’s second largest export and single largest manufacturing sector.
GIA manager Steve Rich said the new additions were a tangible demonstration of the future of biosecurity in NZ.
“Here you have two very different sectors but with common interests to achieve better biosecurity joining together to deliver better outcomes with their peer industries and Government.”
“MIA and Summerfruit NZ joining the GIA partnership means the vast majority of NZ’s land-based agriculture sectors are now represented in GIA.”
