Federated Farmers: Farmers opinion essential

Biosecurity is vital for our farms.

Biosecurity is an important part of ensuring farming businesses are sustainable, and effective biosecurity is underpinned by having a national strategy.

Having a strong and robust system is a prerequisite from which to further increase the value our world-class primary sector products generate in world markets and is a crucial pillar for the Government's 2025 export target.

For this reason, all farmers should be aware of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) Biosecurity 2025 project that is now under way and be prepared to comment on it during the public consultation period later this year.

Robust farming businesses have much in common with other profitable enterprises, including the need to protect business assets from future threats.

Risks come in a range of types, including strategic, economic, legal, organisational and environmental.

In addition, as biological operations, farming businesses are at risk from a particular type of environmental threat; biosecurity incursion.

Such events involve the arrival, in New Zealand, of exotic pests or diseases that could damage our plants, animals or natural resources.

An effective biosecurity system is necessary to prevent such attacks from occurring, either (and ideally) by stopping the threat before it arrives in New Zealand or by dealing with it should it manage to enter the country.

New Zealand has a world-class biosecurity system.

However, owing to changes such as the trend towards increasing accessibility of overseas travel (both by New Zealanders and by tourists) and the increasing complexity and volume of international trade, our flora and fauna will continue to be at risk from overseas pests and diseases for the foreseeable future.

To be effective, the nuts, bolts and scaffolding of our operational arrangements and systems need to be constructed from a strong and well-designed plan -- the biosecurity strategy.

This plan provides assurance that the existing systems can do the job needed and also provides direction as to what changes may be necessary in the future as our biosecurity needs evolve and change.

Our original, and current, biosecurity strategy, Protect New Zealand Tiakina Aotearoa, has served New Zealand well since 2003, but it is time for it to be reviewed.

The review will consider what issues and pressures are likely to occur and to recommend what changes and improvements need to be made so our interests will continue to be protected over the next 10 years.

The Biosecurity 2025 project, overseen by a panel of independent peer reviewers, has a first phase involving consultation with key stakeholders, including the Federation. Later, in the second half of the year, there will be a public consultation process involving both meetings and a formal submissions process.

The main output of the strategy review will be a high level direction statement that will update and replace the current strategy.

It will signal what is expected to be delivered over the next 10 years, the priorities to be actioned and the roles and responsibilities within the system.