Government Industry Agreements (GIA)

The Government Industry Agreement for Biosecurity Readiness and Response (GIA) is a partnership between government and industry for improving New Zealand’s biosecurity. Under GIA, industry organisations - such as KVH on behalf of kiwifruit - and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), sign a Deed that formally establishes the biosecurity partnership.

KVH was the first primary industry to sign the Government Industry Agreement (GIA) Deed in May 2014. This marked a significant achievement for the kiwifruit industry and government.

The GIA Deed outlines the principles for the partnership and the commitments that each Signatory makes to engage in the wider biosecurity system and co-invest to improve the collective biosecurity capacity and capability of industry and government in readiness and response.

Deed Signatories negotiate and agree the priority pests and diseases of most concern to them and agree actions to minimise the risk and impact of an incursion, or prepare for and manage a response in the event than an incursion occurs.

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

The first Operational Agreement (OA) under GIA was the May 2016 multi-sector agreement for the management of fruit fly in New Zealand. In March 2017 KVH signed a second agreement, on behalf of the kiwifruit and kiwiberry sectors, to help reduce the damaging impacts of four sector specific threats - Ceratocystis fimbriata, Verticillium Wilt, Psa-non New Zealand strains and Invasive Phytophthoras. A third OA for brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) was finalised in mid-July 2017.

A further two OAs have been signed by KVH. One for the plant production biosecurity scheme, promoting risk management of all nursery material; and the the other for Xylella fastidiosa, an interim agreement assessing the risk of Xylella and development of response procedures.