Organic Products and Production Bill: One step closer to a National Organic Standard
Thursday, 27 October, was a good day for the Organic Sector. After a lengthy wait, Hon Damien O’Connor finally moved that the Organic Products Bill be read a second time. All parties, except ACT Party (who voted against it), agreed with the idea of a standardised, universal process for certifying organic products and production in Aotearoa, New Zealand.
The second reading has been a long time coming, with OANZ, on behalf of the Organic Sector, working hard to advocate for this Bill and the certainty a national standard and regulation brings with it. This Bill will bring substantial economic and environmental benefits as more farmers are incentivised to go organic.
Many thanks to Hon James Shaw for his persistence and for repeatedly raising this Bill with the leader of the house over the last two years and everyone else who has been banging the drum for a very long time.
Over the coming weeks, MPI has scheduled several general and targeted information sessions to discuss the proposals. These sessions will provide an opportunity for MPI to talk through the proposals with the Organic Sector and the general public and for questions and feedback. The general sessions on the organic approval process will take place on 16 and 30 November, 1 - 2:30 pm.
For more information, please visit MPI - Changes to organic products law for an outline of the Organic Products and Production Bill, FAQS and information sheets for the regulations.
To receive updates from MPI’s Organic Policy team, attend the information sessions, or for further feedback, you can email OrganicsConsultation@mpi.govt.nz.
Damien O'Connor 2022-10-26 - Organic Products Bill - Second Reading - Video 1
Firstly, I want to say that it's great to see the bill back in the House. Demand for organic products has grown markedly in recent years. In 2019, organics was estimated to be worth €106 billion worldwide—approximately NZ$184 billion—with an annual increase of 9 percent on the year prior. Industry estimates put the value of New Zealand's organic sector in 2020 at $723 million, a 20 percent increase on the 2017 figure. An estimated 58 percent of New Zealand's organic output in 2020 was exported. A robust and practical framework is needed to help facilitate and secure the ongoing growth of New Zealand's organic sector.
The purpose of the Organic Products Bill is to increase consumer confidence in purchasing organic products, to increase certainty for businesses making organic claims, and to facilitate international trade in organic products. The bill delivers this by enabling the development of mandatory organic standards and ways to check that businesses selling organic products are complying with that standard. The bill sets out the high-level framework for the organic system and establishes roles, powers, and offences, while the regulations will set out the detail of what organic businesses need to do in order to call their products organic. Standards will set out the technical rules for producing and processing organic products.
The bill will also require a change to the way organic businesses operate. Businesses will be required to apply to the relevant ministry for approval of their status as an organic business instead of their certifier taking care of the whole process. This wouldn't duplicate any functions of the certifier, but would transfer one step in the process from the certifier to the relevant ministry. Those certifiers, to be called "recognised entities" under the new regime, will continue to play a central and crucial role in the system.
I want to take the opportunity to thank the Primary Production Committee for their work in scrutinising the bill. The committee received nearly 350 submissions on the bill and heard over 60 oral submissions. I also want to thank all the submitters that took the time to share their views on the bill. I understand that many submitters have also provided comment on the draft regulatory proposals. I recognise that throughout the select committee process, submitters were concerned with the change to add ministry oversight. However, following the evidence presented on the benefits in detail behind ministry approval, the Primary Production Committee chose not to amend or to remove this element from the bill.
These benefits include, firstly, aligning the bill with other regulatory models in New Zealand which many businesses are already subject to, such as the Food Act 2014, helping create efficiencies in the system; and, secondly, building the organic sector's resilience and integrity by bringing further consistency in approach and in decision making into the system. It will also make it easier for businesses to shift between recognised entities, which in turn allows for better market competition between recognised entities. And, lastly, it assists the Government to negotiate better market access to increase trade. Government oversight of the system is preferred by the Governments of major export markets.
The bill has been reported back with some amendments, and I want to acknowledge that the committee did not significantly change the bill, but the bill has a new title now: the Organic Products and Production Bill. Two of the other key amendments relate to how the organics sector can be involved in scrutinising the standard. First is the addition, in the bill, of a power to create an advisory council broadly representative of the sector. This council could provide crucial sector advice to relevant ministers or chief executives, including on the interpretation and ongoing maintenance of organic standards and implementation of the regulations.
The other key amendment related to the organic standard is a change in how organic standards can be made. The bill as reported back splits the standards-making process into two parts. The regulations will specify the scope, standards, and high level principles, which should guide the technical parts of the standard, which can now be made by notice. This change is important because it will better allow the experts in organic production—those working in the organic sector—to play a greater role in the development of the technical rules around the organic standard. As a new instrument to set up a new regulatory system, the bill needed some tweaking to ensure it should operate as intended. I also saw an opportunity to clarify a number of provisions in the bill to provide greater transparency and clarity for organic stakeholders.
To make these adjustments, I developed a Supplementary Order Paper (SOP), which has just been released. The amendments made by the Supplementary Order paper will make this Act a stronger and more robust piece of legislation. I've introduced a clause to recognise and respect the Crown's responsibility to give effect to the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and a clause to strengthen consultation requirements in the bill, including for Māori.
I have also made amendments to the information sharing provisions to better reflect Cabinet's original intent to ensure the interoperability of the regime with other legislation. The SOP incorporates more robust enforcement mechanisms through requiring recognised entities to follow corrective action, as well as giving recourse to the relevant Government department if a regulated party ignores corrective action or breaches other parts of the Act. I have proposed changes that allow the bill to operate as intended—for instance, several adjustments have been made to provide further clarity and transparency to the bill's regulation-making powers. Finally, I've also clarified the transitional arrangements to further support our continued export of organic products while businesses move into the new system.
As I've previously said, it is great to see this bill progressing. I look forward to the discussion today and to debating the bill in more detail during the committee of the whole House. Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Tim van de Molen, National Party - Organic Products Bill - Second Reading - Video 2
Jo Luxon, Labour Party - Organic Products Bill - Second Reading - Video 3
Nicola Grigg, National Party - Organic Products Bill - Video 4
Steph Lewis, Labour Party MP & Deputy Chairperson of the Primary Production Committee
Chloe Swarbrick, Green Party - Organic Products Bill - Second Reading - Video 6
Anna Lorck, Labour Party - Organic Products Bill - Second Reading - Video 7
Simon Court, ACT Party - Organic Products Bill - Second Reading - Video 8
Barbara Kuriger, National Party - Organic Products Bill - Second Reading - Video 9
Rachel Brooking, Labour Party - Organic Products Bill - Second Reading - Video 10
Glen Bennett, Labour Party - Organic Products Bill - Second Reading - Video 11
Joseph Mooney, National Party - Organic Products Bill - Second Reading - Video 12
Angie Warren-Clark, Labour Party - Organic Products Bill - Second Reading - Video 13