1 August 2013

Additional MPI investment welcomed

The Public Service Association says the Ministry for Primary Industries is taking a responsible approach by not seeking to blame individuals over the Chinese meat documentation mix-up and committing to more staff training and resources.

The Ministry says mistakes were made when changing the templates used for certifying meat exports to China which saw millions of dollars worth of New Zealand meat products held up in Chinese ports.

PSA National Secretary Richard Wagstaff says “the Ministry has acknowledged that it has organisational lessons to learn out of the incident and has been supportive of the staff involved. It’s good to see it is not seeking to pinpoint individuals or pursue any staff performance or disciplinary action as a result.”

It is also committing to putting in additional staff and investing in more staff training.

The merger of MAF, Food Safety and Fisheries into MPI, continued restructuring and government budget constraints have resulted in significant cutbacks at MPI over the past few years.

“It’s no secret that MPI staff have been under enormous pressure due to a lack of resources and a loss of experience across many levels of the organisation. Staff have repeatedly raised concerns about the impact the cuts have had on their workloads and their ability to adequately respond to all of the issues,” says Mr Wagstaff.

“It’s refreshing to see MPI responding to some of those issues and looking to work constructively with its staff to best support them in their jobs.”

ends

© Scoop Media