Kia ora koutou!

The second phase of consultation on the National Organic Standard is now live. You can find the link to the consultation page here. Included in this second phase of consultation is what is proposed to sit at regulation, including a list of definitions and acknowledgement of the Hua Parakore kaupapa. 

Thank you for your contributions to the development of the standard thus far! We have taken careful consideration of all the feedback received and this is reflected in this second phase.

Ministry for Primary Industries working in partnership with Te Waka Kai Ora

The Ministry for Primary Industries has been working in partnership with Te Waka Kai Ora the National Māori Organics Authority of Aotearoa in recent months to acknowledge and uplift the Hua Parakore kaupapa and indigenous Māori production methods within the new organics regulatory system.  Te Waka Kai Ora and MPI are in discussion on forming a partnership agreement for work on the new regulatory system, that uplifts Te Tiriti partnership and Hua Parakore.

We want to thank Dr Jessica Hutchings and the National Executive of Te Waka Kai Ora for their openness in the building of this partnership which has been a moving journey for all the MPI team involved.

We also want to acknowledge the many submissions on the National Organic Standard from across the sector that have highlighted the importance of acknowledging the Hua Parakore kaupapa within the regulatory system – your support for this has been overwhelming.

You will see in this next phase of consultation how we propose to acknowledge the Hua Parakore kaupapa within the content of the standard. This has been developed in close partnership with Te Waka Kai Ora, through regular zoom hui and a recent kanohi kitea hui in Wellington (photo below).

Representatives from Te Waka Kai Ora and MPI at June’s hui.

From the left: Sharlene Hogan, Dr Jessica Hutchings, Rob Small, Paul Dansted, Alesha Garton, Teina Bossa Dean, Justine Hobbs, Geneva Hildreth and Susanna Barris.

Please read the consultation document and focus on the topics which apply to your business or area of expertise, acknowledging that the General and Inputs sections will apply to most operators. 

There are questions at the start of the consultation document that we would like to be the basis of your submission. Please consider these questions as you review the document and include them in your response.  

Please send all submissions to OrganicsConsultation@mpi.govt.nz

Last day for submission is 14 July 2023.

We are also holding virtual drop-in sessions if you would like to come along and discuss or ask any questions about the National Organic Standard Regulations.

Virtual drop-in sessions times:

Friday 7^th July 10:30am – 12:00pm

Monday 10^th July 1:00pm – 2:30pm

Register your interest for either of these sessions by emailing us at: OrganicsConsultation@mpi.govt.nz

Please note that we will be consulting on Supplementary Notices and Guidance soon. There will be more details to come in the next Organic News.