Biosecurity Response Levy

Yes, but only in the event of a future biosecurity response that significantly impacts on the dairy industry and farmers and uses up all the reserves. Farmers will be notified of any future change.

Yes this is a separate levy, managed by DairyNZ to fund dairy industry biosecurity commitments under the Government Industry Agreement (GIA).

The change to the Biosecurity Response Levy will “free up” some commodity levy funding to support other strategic DairyNZ priorities, while reducing the need for farmers to invest in another levy in the short term.

The levy will be used to pay dairy farmer’s share of readiness activities and response costs after they are incurred. By DairyNZ managing the levy, farmers get more assurance that it will be spent on effective readiness and response activities, as by signing up to GIA we have a seat at the decision-making table on what is invested in biosecurity readiness and response. We will let farmers know each year what the levy will be and what it has been spent on.

There is always the risk of unwanted pests and diseases making their way into New Zealand and significantly affecting dairy farming. The GIA commits industry and government to work together in partnership to jointly improve readiness for future biosecurity events and respond effectively to future outbreaks. By working together, we can be better prepared at immediately finding new arrivals, responding fast, and as such reduce the damage from incursions.

DairyNZ has leveraged significant Government funding in this partnership, with Government funding 68% of the M. bovis response programme. Through the GIA we can get agreed contributions from Government taxpayer money to fund biosecurity response activities.

In June 2025, DairyNZ signed the Foot and Mouth Disease Operational Agreement (FMDOA), formalising our co-leadership in national readiness for FMD. This milestone strengthens New Zealand’s biosecurity system and highlights the importance of funding readiness activities for threats like FMD, avian influenza, and lumpy skin disease. Biosecurity is a key priority for DairyNZ as it helps to power more adaptable and resilient farms – with dairy farmers the biggest sector investors in the biosecurity system.

By signing up to GIA we have a seat at the decision-making table in setting biosecurity priorities. Non-GIA signatory beneficiaries are going to still be required to pay, but they won’t have any decision-making rights.

There are currently 26 GIA signatories including MPI, and all the significant animal and horticulture sectors have joined. MPI is looking at the policy and regulatory framework needed so that non-GIA signatory beneficiaries will be paying their share, but they won’t have any decision-making rights.

The bottom line is industry will need to contribute to biosecurity responses, either by MPI requiring those that haven't signed up to GIA to pay their share if they benefit from the response or through negotiation of crown/industry funding proportion through a GIA operational agreement. Industry stands to get a better deal through the GIA route and better opportunities to influence a positive outcome of the response.

The DairyNZ Board has and will be prudent in only entering into commitments that can be funded within the levy maximum set under regulation. DairyNZ on your behalf, decides what we will sign up for and whether we are beneficiaries of any response. We then negotiate with Government and other sector beneficiaries on fair and equitable cost shares specific to the response. The DairyNZ Board makes sure that liability is limited before we sign up to any funding commitment.

Prior to the transition of the M. bovis response to pest management, a significant amount of compensation was expected to be claimed for projected losses as a result of response activities. At the time DairyNZ collected levy funds in the event we were liable to pay for the dairy industry share of these compensation claims, some of which are still being resolved. This resulted in the collection of a funding reserve, which is now deemed unlikely to be fully needed to cover significant outstanding compensation claims. As of 31 May 2025, the balance of the reserve available for future compensation payments was $15,178,551.

Any funds not needed for M. bovis compensation claims can only be used in the event of a future biosecurity response that impacts the dairy industry. Under the current Biosecurity Levy Order, it is not possible for DairyNZ to simply repurpose these funds without consulting farmers.

With transition of the M. bovis response to a national pest management plan, a new levy was required to fund the remainder of the eradication programme. With the progression of the programme out of the response phase and into pest management, legally the Biosecurity Response Levy could no longer be used. This is an example of why biosecurity levies from M. bovis, TB and NAIT should be reviewed. From 1 January 2025, the remainder of the dairy industry share of the M. bovis programme is paid for by the M. bovis NPMP levy, which was set at 0.4c/kg MS from 1 October 2025.