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Cost recovery proposals under the Organic Products and Production Act 2023

Updates

10 June 2025 – Registrations open for webinars or drop-in sessions

We have set up 3 webinars or drop-in sessions to support the public consultation process for the organic sector, providing a forum to answer any questions. The webinar times are provided below. You can register by clicking on the link of your preferred time. (The registration links are to a booking system using 'Microsoft Teams').

Monday 16 June 2025 – 3.30pm to 5.30pm

Tuesday 17 June 2025 – 12pm to 2pm

Tuesday 24 June 2025 – 8.30am to 10am

6 June 2025 – Discussion document updated

The following corrections have been made to the table in section 11.1.2 of the discussion document:

  • added definition of terms for [d] (page 24), previously missing from table
  • corrected labelling of definition of terms for [j] and [k] (page 26), previously mislabelled as [e] and [f].

See the discussion document

Background information: summary

In 2023, Parliament passed the Organic Products and Production Act 2023 (the Act) to regulate organic claims in New Zealand. The Act sets the requirements for making an organic claim and enables the development of secondary legislation to regulate how organic products are made in New Zealand. The new regulatory system is intended to provide consumer confidence in the claims made by New Zealand producers of organic products, and confidence and certainty in the trade of organic products for New Zealand businesses and our trading partners. It will also form the basis of negotiations to gain access to other markets for New Zealand’s organic produce.

To fund the system, MPI must recover costs not covered by the Crown. We anticipate cost recovery for some businesses will begin in mid-2026 to ensure that we can bring operators into the system within the timeframes required to maintain access to the European Union (EU) and Switzerland for organic products.

The services discussed in the consultation document have been identified as necessary to administer the Act with an appropriate level of oversight. We seek your views on whether you think the range and level of services are appropriate (the right type and size), and if the charging mechanism is appropriate, for example the fee or levy. The proposed fees would apply to direct services, while levies would fund broader sector benefits.

Have your say

We are seeking your input on the cost recovery proposals for services that include:

  • approval (certification)
  • oversight, support, and monitoring services for the standard
  • work to facilitate the export of organic products.

The proposals affect all businesses which make organic claims about food, beverages, and plant and animal products.

Full details are in the consultation document.

You can send us your submission from 3 June until 13 July 2025.

Consultation document

Proposal to cost recover New Zealand Food Safety’s regulatory services under the Organic Products and Production Act 2023 [PDF, 2.9 MB]

Related document

This information was originally published in 2023 and detailed the organic regulation requirements agreed to by Cabinet. There have been minor tweaks to the information to better reflect progress on developing the National Organic Standard and process regulations.

Information sheet A3 [PDF, 540 KB]

Making your submission

We must get your submission by 5pm on 13 July 2025.

We seek to understand your views on the nature and benefits of the services discussed in the consultation document, the cost of the services, and how they are proposed to be funded (and by whom).

We prefer you to use our online form but you can also email or post your feedback. 

Online submission – SurveyMonkey

Email

organicsconsultation@mpi.govt.nz

Post

Cost Recovery Directorate
Ministry for Primary Industries
PO Box 2526
Wellington 6140.

Submissions are public information

Note that all, part, or a summary of your submission may be published on this website. Most often this happens when we issue a document that reviews the submissions received.

People can also ask for copies of submissions under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). The OIA says we must make the content of submissions available unless we have good reason for withholding it. Those reasons are detailed in sections 6 and 9 of the OIA.

If you think there are grounds to withhold specific information from publication, make this clear in your submission or contact us. Reasons may include that it discloses commercially sensitive or personal information. However, any decision MPI makes to withhold details can be reviewed by the Ombudsman, who may direct us to release it.

Official Information Act 1982 – NZ Legislation

MPI business units