We're very pleased to announce that Summerfruit NZ has signed the Government Industry Agreement for Biosecurity Readiness and Response (GIA) Deed, and joined 16 other industry sectors that have agreed to work with government.
As a signatory to the Deed, the summerfruit industry can take a more active role in biosecurity. ‘We now have an opportunity to engage on pre-border and at-border biosecurity activities, and will be actively involved in joint decision-making for readiness and response activities’ says chief executive Marie Dawkins.
With an industry goal of becoming a $250 million industry by 2035, Chairman Tim Jones sees biosecurity as an investment, not a cost as ‘like all horticulture industries, Summerfruit NZ faces a large number of biosecurity threats that could damage the livelihoods of our growers’.
GIA establishes the basis for a transparent, consistent and fair partnership between MPI and the industry to improve biosecurity readiness and response outcomes. Its aim is to deliver a properly coordinated approach to prepare for and effectively respond to biosecurity risks. In particular it provides for joint decision-making for and cost sharing of readiness and response activities to fight the threat of pests and diseases to New Zealand’s summerfruit industry.