Monthly Bulletin

August 2025

This semi-regular update from the GIA Secretariat is intended to provide a general overview of the key matters considered by GIA governance bodies in the preceding month. It is not intended to communicate formal decisions by any of the parties, nor everything that happens within GIA. If there are any questions, or further information is required please contact steve.rich@gia.org.nz

Plant Sector Māori Advisor Pilot Steering Group: 5 August

The pilot is a joined-up project among GIA plant sector partners to engage an advisor well-versed in Agribusiness, Te ao Māori and Mātauranga Māori to test and reinforce existing response plans, and help build new, readiness and response plans that will secure Māori and mana whenua support/partnership in a response and assist in improving biosecurity outcomes. Key matters discussed were:

The Secretariat provided an update on the pilot project:
- Clinton Hemana has been engaged as an Advisor to undertake work through to 28 February 2026.
- Priorities over the next 3-4 months are to get things underway and demonstrate the value of this work for GIA partners over four stages:
  - Discovery
  - Readiness and Response Product reviews
  - Recommendations to Council planning sessions in November
  - Participation in GIA forums as they come up over the next few months
Work has begun with the Advisor attending plant sector OA Council meetings and initiating a review of several response operational specifications - the latter with a view to recommendations being available for forthcoming Council planning workshops.

Lepidoptera Working Group (LepiWG): 6 August

The Lepidoptera Working Group met on 6 August to advance the 25/26 workplan. Key projects include:
- developing adaptable operational specifications
- developing an industry guide for a Lepidoptera response
- investigating multi-lure surveillance trapping options
- exploring smarter traps

Opportunities to align and leverage several of these with other BNZ projects, B3 and overseas work were identified, and project planning will be further advanced, and priorities and budgets established over the next couple of weeks.
A B3 project team met with the group to discuss a three-year project to foster stronger social license to operate for better biosecurity risk management.
Scion work that LepiWG co-funds on a portable electroantennogram device has established proof of concept and the project will move to testing at scale in the next year.
The group next meets 24 November 2025.

Xylella fastidiosa Response Operational Agreement (XF ROA): 11 August

The following key matters discussed were:

Treatment in the OA amongst expected response phases - the first where Xylella had been detected, but the subspecies was unknown, and the second after subspecies determination.
The scenario if, winegrapes, the largest industry sector by far, are impacted by only one of the three subspecies, and how this will affect cost shares and fiscal caps.
The draft Response Funding Model was tested through the meeting, and while it does not represent any mandated process or outcome; it did provide for some useful discussion on how to approach the setting of fiscal caps.
The group will meet next in September to further advance OA development.

GIA Operations Limited (GOL) Board: 12 August

The GIA Operations Limited Board met on 12 August 2025 and discussed the following matters:

Secretariat performance against the 2024/25 work programme.
Options for filling the Director vacancy following Dave Harrison’s retirement.
Draft Secretariat Work Programme for 2025/26.
Draft Financial Statements for the 2024/25 year.
Scheduling difficulties for Board meetings.

Trans-Tasman Collaboration Workshop: 13 August

Representatives from across the GIA Partnership met with Australian representatives from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Department of Agriculture NSW, Plant Health Australia, Biosecurity Tasmania and Plant Biosecurity Research Initiative to discuss collaboration opportunities. Overviews were given of each country’s biosecurity systems and funding/commissioning arrangements, with key matters discussed as follows:

Existing collaborations across research, diagnostics, intelligence sharing, training, and joint forums.
Top priorities for potential collaboration (pest specific joint committees, annual workshops, shared training, and a Trans-Tasman Biosecurity Council).
Key themes for further collaboration identified were information sharing, coordinated activities, training/capability building.
Agreed next steps were to invite each other to relevant pest-specific activities with GIA to propose a way forward, and to hold a further online meeting before Christmas.

BMSBC – Harvest Shield Workshop: 14 August

The BMSB Council conducted a simulation exercise (Harvest Shield 2.0) on 14 August 2025 in Tauranga.
This coordinated exercise was carried out to review the roles and responsibilities of a response in a dynamic environment with all involved likely those that would be impacted by such a response.
Around 70 attended including representatives from the BMSB Council, GIA Partners, MPI, Response service providers, technical subject matter experts, local government, Port of Tauranga, local iwi and hapū as well as several Australian counterparts.

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