The Government Industry Agreement for Biosecurity Readiness and Response

The Government Industry Agreement for Biosecurity Readiness and Response (GIA) is a partnership between government and industry for improving New Zealand’s biosecurity.

GIA formalises joint decision-making and cost-sharing to ensure that industry organisations have a formal role, alongside government, in managing their biosecurity risks.

Under GIA, industry organisations and the Ministry for Primary Industries sign the GIA Deed which formally establishes and outlines the principles for the partnership. Deed Signatories also commit to engaging in the wider biosecurity system and to co-invest to collectively improve biosecurity readiness and response.

Deed Signatories have the opportunity to negotiate and agree the priority pests and diseases of most concern to them and agree actions to help prepare for and respond to exotic pest incursions.

Contractual agreements sitting under the Deed take the form of Operational Agreements. These can either be broad agreements to outline a collective approach to industry readiness and response or be threat specific to define principles of cost sharing, decision making and preparedness activities.

The NZ Avocado industry signed the GIA deed in 2015 and have since become signatories to Operational Agreements; Fruit Fly, Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) and the plant production biosecurity scheme, PlantPass. 

The GIA website contains further information.