Introduction

Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Pursuant to section 39 of the Public Finance Act 1989, I am pleased to present my Annual Report on the operations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry for the year ended June 2006.

M A Sherwin
Director-General
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

Welcome to MAF's Annual Report 2005/06

Over the past year there have been some significant new developments for MAF which are reflected in this annual report. These include:

MAF's leadership role within the sustainable development sub-theme of the economic transformation priority.
Major contributions in terms of water quality, water allocation and climate change policies.
NZFSA's domestic and imported food reviews.
Our ongoing commitment to trade negotiations.
Leadership of continuing biosecurity challenges.

These developments have been supported by a number of ongoing initiatives and a heavy base-load of “business as usual”, including:

Strengthening of our role as a sustainable development agency.
Understanding those critical contributions we can make towards our outcomes.
Developing our leadership capability.
Continuing investment in our infrastructure to improve the delivery of our services.

All of these developments have been focused on enhancing MAF's contribution to the government's priorities, and adding value to the sectors and the community at large.

MAF'S vision:

For New Zealanders to celebrate dynamic, scientifically sophisticated and prosperous agriculture, food and forestry sectors leading growth and innovation in the economy and underpinning our ability to achieve the economy, environment and society to which New Zealanders aspire.

MAF contributes to the prosperity of New Zealand through our focus on:

Land-based industries and rural communities.
Biosecurity in support of economic, environmental, health, lifestyle and cultural outcomes.
Food and other biologically-based products.
The sustainability of the production systems on which the primary production industries are based.

ENHANCING NEW ZEALAND'S NATURAL ADVANTAGE

MAF's purpose:

Leading the sustainable development of our biological resources for all New Zealanders.

MAF's Role

We assist New Zealand’s most important industries - agriculture¹, food and forestry - to realise their full potential.

We inform, advise, regulate and deliver services relating to the agriculture, forestry, rural affairs, biosecurity and food safety portfolios.

In doing so we contribute to the economic, environmental and social/cultural well-being of New Zealand.

We do this through the outcomes we seek to achieve with respect to:

The economic, environmental and social performance of the sectors².
Maintaining and enhancing New Zealand’s biosecurity status.
Providing assurances to foreign governments for animals, plants and their products.
Protecting the health of consumers by ensuring the safety and suitability of food.

New Zealand is unique in the world in its dependence on a biological and natural resource-based economy and society. Sustainably managing those resources and the ability to manage them will continue to be important to New Zealand as a society into the foreseeable future. We will encounter significant challenges as we face the uncertainty of how the world and our markets change in the future.

As we pursue our outcomes - whether in respect to the performance of the sectors, biosecurity or food safety - we look to develop and implement well-informed sustainable development policies maximising the shared benefits and minimising the trade-offs between economic growth, environmental management and social and cultural aspirations.

For these reasons issues of sustainability are at the very core of MAF’s mandate and future direction.

Leading the sustainable development of our biological resources for all New Zealanders.

A core component of sustainable development is building on the already major contribution of the country’s primary production sectors to New Zealand’s economic growth.

1 Includes horticulture
2 Sectors covers agriculture, food and forestry industries

Contact for Enquiries

Strategy and Performance Group
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Pastoral House
25 The Terrace
PO Box 2526, Wellington

Tel: +64 4 894 0100
Fax: +64 4 894 0738 Contact this person