Farming: Foot-and-mouth outbreak could cost $14.3b in lost export revenue every year

Foot-and-mouth disease, caused by a contagious virus, affects cloven-hooved animals. Photo / Michael Craig

By RNZ

A foot-and-mouth outbreak could cost New Zealand $14.3 billion in lost export revenue a year.

A new analysis, produced by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, shows an incursion of the disease here would have dramatic impacts, with an immediate halt to most exports of animal products and a potential and ongoing drop in export values of around $14.3b a year.

Foot-and-mouth disease is caused by a contagious virus and affects cloven-hooved animals, like cows, pigs, sheep, goats and deer.

It causes blisters and sores to form around the mouth, muzzle, feet and teats of these animals.

This leads to knock-on effects, such as animals refusing to eat or walk about due to the pain of doing so.

Minister for Biosecurity Andrew Hoggard said the analysis reinforces the Government’s commitment to eradicate foot-and-mouth should it arrive here.

He said the Ministry for Primary Industries presented three management options for consideration.

These included stamping out the disease, with the possible use of emergency vaccination for short-term containment as needed, and managing an outbreak over a longer period using vaccination, or living with the disease.

Hoggard said immediate and decisive action would be required if an outbreak occurred and this was why Cabinet had endorsed an approach of urgent eradication, along with the use of vaccination if appropriate.

“The evidence clearly supported ‘stamping out’ the disease, either with or without emergency vaccination.

“Using emergency vaccination would take around 10 months to achieve, cost around $1.9b in operating costs and compensation, and see a one-off $8.4b impact on the economy in lost trade.”

The option to stamp out without vaccination would take 15 months, cost $2.98b and carry a $15.3b loss of trade.

Living with the disease would have an ongoing annual economic impact of $14.3b.

Hoggard said he was releasing the economic analysis report so people could understand the impacts of foot-and-mouth disease and the importance of keeping it out of the country.

“The best way to manage any incursion is to keep unwanted pests and diseases out in the first place which is why the Government is committed to maintaining a strong border, and robust biosecurity systems.”

- RNZ