The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is reviewing how much it charges to recover the costs of providing export phytosanitary certification for plant and forestry products. This is the first major update since 2007 and is necessary due to a financial deficit in the certification account that started accumulating in 2020/21.

Phytosanitary certification is essential for New Zealand’s plant-based exports, providing official government-to-government assurances that exported plant products meet the plant health and regulatory requirements of importing countries. These services support around $13 billion in annual exports across horticulture (excluding wine), forestry, and arable sectors.

MPI is proposing two options to recover the current deficit and is seeking your feedback on the preferred approach and any other issues MPI should consider in addressing the current phytosanitary certification account deficit.

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