Foot and mouth disease Operational Agreement – farmer vote

The agreement sets out how the agricultural sector and Government will work together on, and fund: 

• readiness activities (setting up appropriate systems and resources, including things like staff training and business continuity planning) so we’re as prepared as possible for a potential foot and mouth disease outbreak
• response activities (containing infected areas, culling stock and eradication leading to eventual re-establishment of trade) if foot and mouth disease enters New Zealand. 

The Operational Agreement for foot and mouth disease falls under the Government Industry Agreement for Biosecurity Readiness and Response (GIA) our farmers voted to join in 2017. 

The GIA is a partnership between government and industry for improving New Zealand’s biosecurity. Under the GIA, Operational Agreements are developed for specific pests and diseases

For instance there was an Operational Agreement developed for the Mycoplasma bovis response.

The Government (through the Ministry for Primary Industries) and agriculture sector groups: Deer Industry New Zealand [DINZ], Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand [DCANZ], DairyNZ, Meat Industry Association [MIA], NZ Pork.

Due to the potential size of B+LNZ’s liability in a large-scale response, signing the Operational Agreement is considered a ‘major transaction’ under the Companies Act 1993. This means that B+LNZ cannot sign the agreement unless there is a levypayer vote in support. 

Other sector groups will have different processes.

We recommend farmers support the signing because it will give us a voice in decision-making.

• We want to be part of coordinated planning. Being better prepared should mean a more effective response if foot and mouth disease reaches New Zealand.
• We want to be involved in deciding how response costs would be met and the money spent. Staying out of the Operational Agreement wouldn’t mean we could avoid the significant costs of a response effort – rather, it would mean we have no say in how our sector contributes to those costs and how money is spent in a response.
• There is support across the agriculture sector for this agreement. We don’t want to risk sheep and beef farmers not being represented.

B+LNZ cannot sign the Operational Agreement in the event of a NO vote. 

No, because in the event of an outbreak, the Government would look to recoup response costs from the sector in some way.  

Signing the Operational Agreement, along with all other relevant industry groups, gives us a direct say in how readiness and response activities are run. This means we can oversee costs and minimise the negative impacts on farmers. 

• The handout (PDF, 614 KB) in your voting packs contains all the information you need.
• You can also take part in a webinar, where there will be an opportunity to ask questions. See the Events section of our website for these. 

Voting is open from 15 April until 2pm on Friday 16 May. 

If approved, B+LNZ will then take part in a formal signing of the Operational Agreement in June. The agreement would take effect from 1 July 2025. 

Vote online through the Electionz.com website. Go to https://www.electionz.com/BLNZ2025fmd and use the unique PIN and password in the letter you received in the mail.

The agreement sets out obligations to undertake readiness activities and share of response costs and provides signatories with a direct, legally-binding say in decision-making.

The agreement sets out what each part of the sector contributes to the ‘industry share’ of costs – industry shares would be split between different sectors based on the relative size of the sectors in value terms. Value is calculated on what different sectors add to the value of a product. In simple terms, this means the value of the farming sector is calculated based on the value of farm gate sales, and the value of processors is the difference between farm gate value and export value. Values are calculated using a five-year rolling average. As an indication, sectors cost shares based on the data available as at December 2024 is set out in the table below:

Other sector groups are consulting with their farmers or members, although not all need to have a formal vote on it. 

You will not have to pay anything for readiness activities. 

In the event of a response, there would be increased GIA levies from one year after freedom to trade is re-established (for a period of ten years). 

• The sheepmeat GIA levy would be raised from $0.05 per head to a maximum of $0.30 (the Government would fund the response and recover costs through this GIA levy).
• At this stage it’s unlikely the beef GIA levy would need to be raised.

If your farming business covers multiple sectors you may face more than one levy across those affected businesses. This is because costs have been divided on sector size and a farm may contribute to multiple sectors. However, this is no different from at present, where farmers whose businesses cover multiple sectors pay multiple levies. 

Initially, through GIA levy funds collected for M. bovis that are not needed for historic compensation claims, then through New Zealand Meat Board reserves earmarked for ‘industry good’ activities. This means farmers will not face additional costs for readiness activities. 

Yes, see above in ‘What will this cost me?’ noting that farmers whose businesses cover multiple sectors already pay multiple levies. 

For dairy farmers it’s worth noting that when the size of the meat sector is determined, that includes meat from the dairy herd. If those cattle are part of calculating liability, it’s only reasonable they should also contribute to meeting that liability. 

The Government would fund the response and recover costs through a GIA levy per head at point of slaughter. This would be from one year after freedom to trade is re-established and would apply for a period of ten years. For more information see ‘What will this cost me?’ above. 

The sector’s response costs are capped (currently at $90 million based on sector value). 

Foot and mouth disease would have a devastating impact on our sector if it reached New Zealand. 

Our trading partners would immediately stop importing our products if foot and mouth disease is found in New Zealand.  

An April 2024 report from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research found that a large-scale foot and mouth disease response could cost the country between $8.4 billion and $15.4 billion. 

Foot and mouth disease has severe symptoms, causing painful lesions on cloven-hoofed animals including sheep, cattle, pigs and goats. Animals can become lame or stop eating and dairy cattle will stop producing milk. The animals become very sick and it can cause death in young animals. 

Foot and mouth disease is extremely contagious and infected animals must be destroyed and disposed of to halt the spread of infection. 

There are multiple strains of foot and mouth disease virus, and vaccination against one strain does not provide protection against the others. In the event of an outbreak the strain would need to be identified and the appropriate vaccine manufactured to order. 

The vaccine will be used to contain the disease by creating a geographic barrier of immune animals while depopulation and disinfection activities are carried out.

New Zealand is currently recognised as being free of foot and mouth disease without vaccination. This is more attractive to export markets than being free of the disease with vaccinated animals.