Proud to be part of Biosecurity Business Pledge

31 October 2019

Media Release by the Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand (DCANZ)

The Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand (DCANZ) has joined today with Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor, and 50 other businesses and associations from across New Zealand, in launching a new Biosecurity Business Pledge.

The Pledge is a commitment from companies to being proactive about biosecurity within their operations and supply chains, to help protect New Zealand’s unique natural environment, the New Zealand way of life, and our economy for future generations.

All 12 DCANZ member companies – Fonterra, Open Country Dairy, Tatua, Miraka, Dairy Goat Co-operative, Synlait, Westland, Oceania, Goodman Fielder, Danone, Yashili and Waui - have individually signed onto the Pledge.

“Our commitment to the pledge reflects the importance we place on biosecurity” says DCANZ Chairman Malcolm Bailey.

“New Zealand’s freedom from many pests and diseases underpins our ability to export dairy products to more than 100 different markets globally, and safeguards 38,000 dairy sector jobs.”

In committing to the Pledge dairy companies recognise that biosecurity is a crucial step in maintaining the biodiversity that makes New Zealand a special place to live and work.

“Everyone has a role to play in good biosecurity and we take this responsibility seriously. This includes seeking good biosecurity outcomes for ourselves, for other businesses, and for our communities, when importing products within our supply chains and travelling.”

A focus for dairy companies in signing up to the pledge will be increased engagement with MPI to better understand the biosecurity trends occurring within cross-border supply chains. For example, potential for ‘hitchhiker pests’ to enter New Zealand with the shipping containers dairy companies import. This engagement will support a proactive approach as risk profiles evolve.

The Pledge will also create a pre-competitive network enabling participating companies to share and learn from each other’s approaches to biosecurity risk management. Fonterra, for example, will be making available its biosecurity guidelines for travel on the Biosecurity Business Pledge webpage. It is hoped this makes it easier for other companies to integrate biosecurity into their travel.

The benefits and risks associated with biosecurity are shared by all businesses. The network established by this Pledge will help all participating businesses to support better biosecurity outcomes.

“DCANZ is proud to be part of the inaugural signatories to the Pledge, and we encourage more companies to join us.” says Bailey

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