A group of 50 New Zealand companies have signed a first-of-its-kind pledge to protect New Zealand from pests and diseases.

The Biosecurity Business Pledge – which includes KVH and Zespri, alongside some of New Zealand’s biggest businesses, was launched today by participating businesses and Biosecurity Minister Damien O‘Connor.

At the launch Minister O'Connor said that as a nation that depends on trade and tourism, and a country whose lifestyle is linked to our unique natural environment, having a culture of everyone taking responsibility for biosecurity is vital.

The aim of the pledge is to take a more proactive approach to biosecurity by improving the partnership between government and businesses, to help prevent unnecessary costs and disruptions for Kiwi businesses,communities and the wider New Zealand economy. Everyone who signs up commits to:

• actively seek to understand and manage the biosecurity considerations associated with their business activities;
• promote a culture of proactive biosecurity management within their operations, across their business, around their board tables, and across their teams;
• incorporate biosecurity into their procurement policies that guide the selection of goods, travel, logistics, and service providers;
• take opportunities to support their customers, staff, suppliers and stakeholders to understand the importance of biosecurity and what good biosecurity practice looks like; and,
• approach biosecurity with the view that it is everyone's responsibility, that risk is best managed offshore, and that they will actively engage with the Ministry for Primary Industries to support better biosecurity outcomes for New Zealand.

A key benefit for businesses of joining the pledge campaign is improved early engagement with Biosecurity New Zealand on emerging biosecurity issues and risks. There will also be more opportunities to work in good faith together to improve outcomes for individual businesses (as well as the environment and the overall New Zealand economy) through quarterly biosecurity updates and more regular heads up alerts.