V. CONCLUSIONS
In the past decade, New Zealand has implemented wide-ranging economic and environmental reforms. Government intervention in agriculture and other sectors of the economy had led to severe misallocation of resources and high levels of assistance which could no longer be maintained. In 1985 and succeeding years, government assistance to agriculture was virtually eliminated.
The elimination of agricultural subsidies had environmental benefits, as livestock numbers declined, forestry plantings continued to increase, and the use of fertilisers and other agricultural chemicals decreased. However, concurrent macroeconomic reforms contributed to stress, which in some cases led to short-term exploitation of the resource base. In addition, with recent recovery of farm incomes, the use of agricultural chemicals has since increased somewhat. New Zealand experience has confirmed that, while the removal of agricultural subsidies is beneficial, specific environmental policies are necessary to address the environmental effects of agriculture.
The development of these policies is well underway. The New Zealand government no longer provides significant disaster relief payments to farmers, but instead requires farmers to manage their land in consideration of these risks. More importantly, in 1991 the New Zealand Government enacted the Resource Management Act, with the overriding purpose of promoting the sustainable management of natural and physical resources. Under this Act, regional and district councils, in consultation with their communities, are developing policies and plans to address a wide range of environmental issues: soil conservation, water allocation and water quality, air pollution, and more.
User-pays and polluter-pays principles are well established in New Zealand. Agricultural inspection services and extension services formerly funded by central government are now on a user-pays basis. Apart from special programmes to address severe land degradation in two regions of the country, and a diminishing number of regional council grant programmes for soil conservation, there are no government subsidies to farmers to comply with environmental standards. Pest management programmes are funded largely by levies or special property taxes on landholders who benefit from them.
Furthermore, for a range of activities, farmers must obtain environmental permits and, in an increasing number of circumstances, must pay the administrative costs and on-going monitoring costs associated with the permit. To address non-point source pollution problems, local authorities are encouraging landowners to take collective responsibility for devising solutions to meet community expectations. Although there is still some way to go, New Zealand is moving towards internalisation of environmental costs in order to encourage the efficient and sustainable use of natural resources.
Contact for Enquiries
MAF Information Services
Pastoral House
25 The Terrace
PO Box 2526
Wellington, NEW ZEALAND
Fax: +64 4 894 0721
Contact this person
