Farm Forestry New ZealandJuly, 2015
Government Industry Agreement Application underway on behalf of the forest-growing industry
In November 2014, the NZ Forest Owners Association (FOA), on behalf of the commercial forest-growing industry, submitted its application to MPI to sign the GIA Deed. Prior to submitting the application, the FOA had endeavoured to consult with industry, however it has recently been highlighted that no comprehensive document fully outlining the proposal to sign the GIA Deed was made available for comment.
In order to rectify this, this consultation document has been drafted to provide a complete overview of the GIA, its obligations and how these will be managed by the FOA upon signing the Deed. It has been made available as a download for comment before 5pm Tuesday 4 August.
What is GIA?
GIA is an acronym for ‘Government Industry Agreement’ and forms Part 5A of the Biosecurity Act 1993. In this instance, the agreement is between the New Zealand Government (represented by the Ministry for Primary Industries - MPI) and the forest- growing industry to act in a partnership on matters of biosecurity: readiness and response.
This partnership will mean that the forest-growing industry will be part of the decision making process in the event of a biosecurity incursion that affects commercial plantation forestry. Costs for biosecurity readiness, as well as costs for incursion response will be shared between industry and MPI.
For more information, please see the Biosecurity Act 1993.
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