Declaration of the Responsible Minister and the Chief Executive
This Statement of Intent (SOI) documents the Government's expectations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) in 2004/05. Further, it sets out the strategic context for the Ministry and the specific outcomes to which the Ministry will contribute over the next three to five years.
The agricultural, horticultural, food and forestry sectors have a key role to play in New Zealand's future prosperity. In addition to their direct economic contribution, these sectors provide the core around which other businesses cluster – manufacturing, processing, biotech, research, transport, finance and a myriad of other services. These sectors have been, and are increasingly, the drivers of our national growth, productivity and prosperity.
How does MAF contribute to this story of growth, productivity and prosperity? The answer has both the familiar and old components, but also a number of new aspects. The old roles relate to monitoring, data collection and forecasting of on-farm and in-forest production, to dealing with adverse events (droughts, floods, snow storms etc), to international trade policy and market access, and to biosecurity threats to our agricultural, horticultural and forestry industries.
The new roles assigned to MAF over the past couple of years encompass overall leadership and co-ordination of biosecurity, including risks to the environment, on land and water, and to human health. Under the umbrella of the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA), MAF is responsible for food safety matters both domestically and internationally, and within our Policy Group, MAF is taking a leading role in shaping the Government's sustainable development agenda, engaging in such matters as climate change, water quality and water allocation, and resource management matters.
Our SOI reflects this broadened mandate, and illustrates how we intend to operate within that mandate to pursue our high level goals.
Relevant sections of the 2004/05 SOI have been agreed with the Minister for Food Safety.
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| Hon Jim Sutton
Minister of Agriculture |
Murray Sherwin
Chief Executive |
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
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