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Introduction

The Green Party recognises that the New Zealand economy is largely sustained by our agricultural exports. We believe that a strong, healthy and diverse agricultural sector is essential to an economically viable and environmentally sustainable New Zealand.The Green Party also acknowledges that New Zealand farmers are now facing many of the same pressures (escalating land prices and energy costs, high interest and exchange rates, competition from low cost food imports and supermarket downward price pressure) that have resulted in corporate agriculture replacing family farming in Europe and North America. These factors put pressure on farmers to 'over-farm' their land in ways that are detrimental to the environment and they also cause personal and family stress.Environmentally damaging farming practices jeopardise our international reputation as a producer of safe, healthy, sustainably-produced agricultural products. It is vitally important that as a country we strive to protect our 'clean green’ image and ensure that the reality matches our reputation. If we do not do this then we risk losing access to overseas markets and becoming uncompetitive.The Green Party strongly supports the many farmers who are leading the way in implementing sustainable practices on their land and believe that they deserve public recognition for these efforts.The dual challenge of rising oil prices (Peak Oil) and Climate Change pose special issues for the agricultural sector and for the future of New Zealand’s food security. Much modern food production relies on synthetic fertilisers derived from natural gas, pesticides derived from petroleum, electricity for irrigation, food processing and refrigeration, of which 30-40% is generated using natural gas and diesel and petrol for highly industrialised harvest processes and transport to the processing plant and grocery store Given New Zealand’s relatively low population, organic and sustainable farming methods can meet our country’s nutritional needs. However with the changes that are likely to accompany climate change – changed rainfall patterns and extreme weather events – there may be problems guaranteeing sufficient supplies of basic foodstuffs, especially grains, particularly if adverse climate related events reduce food production on a global basis.Because the New Zealand economy is sustained by food exports this means that New Zealand currently is unlike other countries in that 49% of our greenhouse emissions are from agriculture. The Green Party believes that the agriculture sector must be supported in finding cost-effective ways to reduce these emissions.Please see the Green Party’s Environment, Conservation, Animal Welfare, Housing, Water, Safe Food, Trade and Urban policies for other relevant information.

Definitions

'Ecosystem Services': Ecosystem services are the benefits people obtain from ecosystems including:

• Provisioning services - food, water, timber, fibre;
• Regulating services that affect climate, floods, disease, wastes and water quality;
• Cultural services that provide recreational, aesthetic and spiritual benefits;
• Supporting services such as soil formation, photosynthesis and nutrient cycling (see Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005).

Farming/Production by environmentally sustainable methods protects the ecological benefits described as Ecosystem Services.
Food miles: greenhouse emissions released in the transport of New Zealand food exports to foreign markets.

Vision

The Green Party envisions a strong, healthy and diverse agricultural sector that contributes to an economically viable and environmentally sustainable Aotearoa / New Zealand in which:

• Farmers are locally celebrated, nationally valued and internationally renowned for their economically successful, environmentally sustainable, socially responsible practices.
• Rural land is valued for its ability to produce healthy food and fibre and is managed sustainably to ensure that its productive potential is protected and enhanced, while enhancing and respecting its amenity, cultural, spiritual, historical, conservation and ecological services.
• Rural communities have a high quality of life and good access to a diverse range of social, economic, educational and recreational opportunities

Key Principles

1. Farms should be able to provide a decent livelihood for people who live on them without compromising the ecosystem services of the land.
2. All New Zealanders have a responsibility to practice and support good environmental stewardship.
3. All rural production land must be managed in ways that are both environmentally and ecologically sustainable.
4. Rural communities should be attractive places to live, providing for the economic, educational, health and social needs of residents.
5. Social, environmental and foods security goals must not be compromised by any trade policy relating to primary production.
6. New Zealand should focus on producing high quality, added value products to avoid excessive reliance on relatively low value commodities.
7. Animals used in primary production should be treated humanely and with respect throughout their lives.
8. The New Zealand environment must be kept GE free.
9. Local food production for local use must be supported.
10. New Zealand must live up to its reputation as “Clean and Green” in order to maintain its ability to sell its products in top-end markets.
11. New Zealand must be vigilant about biosecurity to protect our primary production base from introduced pests and diseases.
12. Tangata whenua ancestral land ownership and kaitiakitanga must be recognised and respected.

Specific Policy Points

1. Ensuring a fairer approach to trade

Historically, New Zealand has been a provider of food and fibre for other countries, competing effectively on the international market to produce low cost products ( milk powder, wool etc) for the mass commodity market. However farmers are now facing increasing competition from countries with lower labour and other costs. Traditionally the response from New Zealand farmers to decreasing commodity prices has been to increase productivity. However, we cannot continue to increase production indefinitely without exceeding the limits of sustainability. The current situation puts us on a downwards spiral of increasing production and cutting costs only for lower returns in the long run and puts pressure on our natural resources. To address this we need to focus on producing higher value products for export and capitalise on our international reputation as a producer of safe, healthy, sustainably produced products. We need to work on protecting our 'clean green’ image and work to keep it a reality. In addition, farmers are facing increasing unfair competition at home from cheap imported food and agricultural products. These imports often come from countries that have weak or non-existent employment standards and poor environmental, health and safety standards that allow them to produce goods at a much lower cost than New Zealand farmers can compete with. Examples are imported pork and garlic from China.Our approach to trade needs to be tempered by common sense. Importing sweetened condensed milk from Chile and Malaysia is not only absurd when we can make it here, it is also inherently unsustainable given the dwindling oil supply (peak oil) and the threats posed by climate change.To ensure a better deal for New Zealand farmers and protection from unfair competition, we need to ensure that importers are required to show that their products meet minimum environmental, labour, health and safety standards before being allowed to import. The Green Party will:

1. Strongly support mandatory country of origin labelling for all single-ingredient imported agricultural products.
2. Continue to support and improve ways of communicating to the public on the value and importance of buying local.
3. Support mandatory certification of imported produce to show that they comply with minimum New Zealand environmental, safety and health standards along the lines of the current EU directives.
4. Continue to use our clean, green image in marketing New Zealand produce and back it up by ensuring that the reality lives up to this image as well as capitalising on our GE free status
5. Encourage all food and fibre products intended for export as ‘Product of NZ’ to meet or exceed minimum sustainability standards, such as Kiwi Green and Sustainable Wine Growing New Zealand
6. Work to adjust for “food miles” by supporting farmers to reduce emissions released during production and by working to educate European consumers about the total environmental impact of the New Zealand goods they purchase.
7. Support the development of a national line of vessels powered by renewable energy sources, as already in development, to counter the criticism that our products are highly energy intensive because of the distance they are transported to overseas markets

2. Reducing dependency on oil, agrichemicals and imported grains

Rural areas and current agricultural production are likely to be adversely affected as oil prices increase. To reduce dependency in agriculture on oil, agri-chemicals and imported grains, the Green Party will:

1. Encourage efficient rural land use of energy, especially oil (particularly for soil cultivation, irrigation, and inputs such as synthetic fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides), to reduce current energy dependence
2. Support the development of infrastructure for economically and sustainably viable biofuel production especially from waste agricultural products, recognising that biofuel production should not diminish food production
3. Encourage the use of non-chemical methods of production and setting targets and levies to promote the reduction of agrichemical use.
4. Fund more research, education and direct support to farmers in transition away from industrialised, fossil fuel supported agriculture.
5. Increase New Zealand’s self-sufficiency in basic foodstuffs, especially grains, by
   1. Boosting New Zealand’s seed supply, to reduce the risk of scarcity due to environmental and geo-political issues and to reduce our dependence on imports from GE contaminated countries.
   2. Contracting with New Zealand farmers to grow grains which are in short supply domestically because of our current reliance on imports
   3. Encouraging the preservation and growing of heritage seeds, for personal use as well as commercial production.

3. Growing the organic sector

Organic production sets the standard for sustainable land management but has received only sporadic and insufficient support for development. The Green Party views Organics as a model that can be used to guide the rest of the primary production sector in developing environmentally sustainable systems and enable Aotearoa / New Zealand to capitalise on its ‘clean green’ image. Certified organics is based on ecological sustainability and encompasses full systems and ethical trading approaches that include; biodiversity considerations, ecosystem connectedness, production inputs manufacture and sources, labour, land and water care and use, packaging, transport and trade.To realise our vision of an increasing proportion of New Zealand’s primary production being organic, the Green Party will:

1. Promote the target of half of New Zealand’s production becoming certified organic by 2020, with the remainder in the process of conversion, with a goal of 15% of farms certified organic or in conversion by 2015. As first steps towards this target, the Green Party will encourage development of minimum sustainability standards for all sectors, and the strengthening of existing ones, such as the already established industry standards, Kiwi Green and Sustainable Wine Growing New Zealand.
2. Continue funding assistance for the operation of Organics Aotearoa New Zealand, the umbrella organisation for the Organics sector, until the sector has the capacity for sufficient commodity levies or other self-funding mechanisms. OANZ as an umbrella organisation for the organics community includes members that are not commodity producers.
3. Encourage the development of the Organic FarmNZ small organic growers certification scheme until its membership level is self-supporting.
4. Enhance current funding for organic advisory services, including support for mentoring between experienced and novice organic producers, and on farm consultation at all levels
5. Support removing the economic barriers that prevent people converting to organic management of their land (eg. supporting payment of price premiums or suspensory loans during transition to full organic certification)
6. Redirect funding for research into the development of organic systems; design and practice
7. Encourage development of broad educational opportunities in organic production from school and community education through to apprenticeships and post graduate tertiary levels
8. Promote and encourage the establishment of organic horticulture/agriculture courses at tertiary institutions, especially in rural areas
9. Set the New Zealand Organic Standard as the minimum standard for domestic organic production, with an organic consumer and sector selected New Zealand Organic Standards maintenance and review panel.
10. Promote consumer awareness of the different standards of organic production that exist and require clear labelling of certified organic products
11. Encourage the development of the Maori organic sector through organisations such as Te Waka Kai Ora
12. Assist implementation of a Maori indigenous organic certification scheme.

4. Other steps Towards Sustainability on Rural Land

Agriculture, horticulture and forestry account for significant export earnings so our economic well-being is highly dependent on the primary sector.Recent comprehensive reports demonstrate that rural land use is increasingly unsustainable, causing unacceptable damage to both the productive base and the associated natural environment, through soil erosion and loss of water quality and/or water quantity. This in turn compromises our ability to market our produce as 'clean and green' overseas.Primary production can work with nature to protect soil and water resources and to support the other values associated with rural land. A stronger stewardship ethos urgently needs to be developed and the responsibility for implementing this ethos must be shared by all New Zealanders. The Government needs to show leadership in this area by ensuring that Landcorp, DOC, and other state owned departments and enterprises lead the way in demonstrating sustainable farming techniques.To help achieve our vision, the Green Party will develop a strategy for environmentaly and ecologically sustainable rural land use that includes:

A) Promoting Sustainable use of Rural Land



1. Requiring Landcorp to implement and model sustainable farming techniques such as organic production, retiring riparian areas and areas of high erosion, conserving biodiversity, reducing synthetic fertiliser use and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
2. Increasing the Sustainable Farming Fund and ensuring it is used only to research sustainable farming techniques and/or support conversion to sustainable land uses.
3. Supporting training for careers in areas needed to aid the shift to a sustainable rural economy
4. Limiting urban sprawl to prevent loss of prime agricultural land to housing, lifestyle blocks and commercial developments. (see Housing Policy for further detail)
5. Enhancing the role of regional councils in supporting sustainable land use including facilitating compliance with new sustainability regulations. This will include providing a role for regional councils in advising local farmers on cost-effective options for alternative land use.
6. Extending the development and implementation of sustainable land and water management plans at catchment level and farm level (eg. nutrient budgets, stocking rate limits, riparian plantings, water extraction limits, diversification of land use).
7. Providing incentives to match land use to land use capability, (eg. to encourage erosion prone hill country to be planted in suitable indigenous or exotic forest species for sustainable timber production, soil conservation, permanent carbon sinks, biodiversity enhancement)
8. Providing incentives to use sustainable production practices and disincentives for unsustainable practices, although educational support is seen as preferable to penalty
9. Providing incentives for maintaining or enhancing the environment, such as improving water quality by riparian plantings or by preventing soil erosion and nutrient run-off.
10. Funding the re-establishment and maintenance of wetlands, lowland forests and green corridors that enhance biodiversity.
11. Supporting an increase in the diversity of tree species grown for timber, especially encouraging those that provide high value timber and those that do not need to be treated chemically (eg. macrocarpa, cedar, totara, durable eucalyptus. see forestry policy for more detail)
12. Promoting and encouraging farm forestry and woodlots on agricultural land (see forestry policy)
13. Investigate the benefits and appropriateness of establishing of a agrichar/biochar industry for carbon sequestration, soil fertility and biofuel purposes.
14. Hemp is a versatile plant and a potentially valuable commercial crop. Where practical and desired by local communities, licensed cultivation of industrial hemp will be encouraged in those economically-depressed rural areas of New Zealand which may now be financially dependent on income from cannabis cultivation.
    

    B) Protecting rural water quality and supply

    The Green party is committed to a sustainable and high quality water supply. In order to ensure that water supply and quality is adequately protected the Green Party will:
15. Ensure that land use must consider water conservation through sustainable management practices.
16. Address the impacts of rural land use on water quality (See Water Policy for more detail).
17. Make it a requirement to have a resource consent to convert land to ruminants or to intensify stocking rates. (See Water Policy for more detail).
    

    C) Reducing the use of toxic chemicals and managing chemical trespass and spray drift

    To encourage agriculture to avoid using toxic chemicals and adopt natural non-harmful methods wherever possible and to generally improve management of toxic chemicals in agriculture, the Green Party will:
18. Develop and implement a pesticide reduction strategy to reduce pesticide use by 50% within five years, with annual monitoring and reports on progress, and with the emphasis on safer alternatives
19. Rapidly phase out chemicals of concern where safer practicable alternatives exist
20. Ensure that those who use, require or permit toxic substances to be used, are required to take financial liability for adverse effects resulting from that use, such as caused by pesticide spray drift/chemical trespass, that could have been reasonably avoided.
21. Pass legislation to make agrichemical trespass across boundaries without consent of landowners illegal.
22. Implement rules for notifying neighbours when agrichemicals able to be dispersed through the air will be used.
23. Protect people and properties from aerial spray drift by strengthening rules around aerial spraying including:
    1. Establishing a register of chemicals (e.g. 2-4-D) that are not permitted for aerial spraying to take effect immediately
    2. Making aerial spraying a non-complying activity in district and regional plans. (To ensure that an application has to be made for permission to use aerial spraying methods)
    3. Only permitting aerial spraying when it is the safest, least toxic, effective, feasible method of achieving the desired outcome
    4. Ensuring that there is appropriate public input into the decision to allow aerial spraying.
    5. requiring a plan to mitigate aerial spray drift or contamination of waterways
    6. ensuring that there is agreement from people whose homes and living spaces are being sprayed
    7. ensuring that full information on any spraying programmes are available to the public (See toxics policy for more detail)

5. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from farming

In order to meet our Kyoto commitments it is vital that we control methane and nitrous oxide emissions from livestock.To achieve this the Green party will:

1. Promote organic agriculture, which uses improved soil structure, sward and feed management, stock selection, and diversification, to increase carbon sequestration, nutrient retention and buffering, and healthy balanced animal gut conditions.
2. Set the baseline for agriculture at the level of their emissions at 1990 because that is the point after which NZ becomes liable for the emissions according to the Kyoto agreement.
3. Exempt the beef and sheep industries from any requirement to purchase units unless their emissions rise beyond 1990 levels as currently their emissions are below 1990 levels.
4. Place the liability for any increased emissions from the dairying and deer farming sectors with the large processing companies rather than with individual farmers. For example, if Fonterra processes 90% of our milk, they will be required to purchase enough Kyoto units to cover 90% of any increase in our emissions from dairying since 1990 and remit them to the government
5. Support ways of reducing methane production per hectare and per animal, including intensified research into alternative feeds, breeding and selection of lower emitting animals and rumen biochemistry. This may include the use of new genetic technologies in the laboratory as part of the research, but not the release of living genetically modified organisms, whether cows or bacteria, into the farm environment.
6. Support ways to reduce the release of nitrous oxide (a greenhouse gas 200-300 times more potent than CO2) from nitrogen-based fertilisers that emit nitrous oxide through denitrification, including:
   1. maximisation of conversion to organic production by encouraging best organic practice.
   2. research into the most appropriate fertiliser management practices to ensure the most efficient use of nitrogen-based fertilisers.
   3. research into the economic feasibility of wide implementation of "alternative" technologies such as soil re-mineralisation and bio-intensive farming.
   (See our Climate Change policy for our full policy on climate change)

6. Reducing GE and Biosecurity threats to agriculture

A) Genetic engineering

The Green Party remains committed to keeping the Aotearoa/New Zealand environment free of GE organisms. New information is constantly coming forward showing that the risks have been understated. (See our environment policy for our full GE policy)The Green Party supports:
1. Limited and ethical use of genetic science as a tool in diagnostics, understanding of heredity, and development of medicines, provided any genetically engineered organisms are completely contained in a secure indoor laboratory,
2. The use of marker assisted breeding for crop and animal improvement
3. Prohibiting the growth, development and field-testing of genetically modified and transgenic organisms that are intended for release into the environment or food chain.
4. Maintaining “zero” tolerance for all GE derived micro-organism, seed and plant, and animal imports
5. Discouraging GE products, such as enzymes and processing aids, vaccinations and animal remedies, from being released into the NZ food chain or environment
6. Legislation being developed to ensure liability for any GE contamination falls on those responsible.
7. The marketing of Aotearoa/NZ and its products as GE free
   

   B) Improving Biosecurity

   One of the greatest advantages New Zealand’s primary production sector has over the rest of the world, is its freedom from numerous pests and diseases. We must take strong measures to maintain this status by having a strict border security, quarantine and internal biosecurity regime and capacity.Recent changes to our biosecurity system have resulted in great improvements but there are still too many incursions that require responses. The Green Party believes the system should have higher standards including more stringent inspections overseas. (See our Conservation policy for more details).The Green Party will better protect the country from new exotic pests and diseases by working to:
8. Develop a Biosecurity Strategy that:
   1. Is based on a precautionary approach.
   2. Recognises that many pest incursions are irreversible and so promotes the lowest practical risk approach.
   3. Considers the harmful effects of toxins on human and non-target species, in decisions on the use of ground and aerial spray, and ensures chemicals are only used as a last resort.
   4. Addresses the risks from new and imported organisms and ensures MAF maintains and constantly improves biosecurity protocols, including seed importation and GE organisms that include micro-organisms, seed, plants and animals.
   5. Only permit new species of biological control after extensive consideration of indigenous and existing naturalised exotic species.
9. Amend the Biosecurity Act to:
   1. Include, as its purpose, the need to protect New Zealand from pests, diseases, and GE organisms.
   2. Require regional councils to develop pest management strategies that cover both private and public land
   3. Encourage the preparation of pest management strategies that are area/ecosystem-based strategies as well as species based.
10. Institute a biosecurity services levy on all freight, passengers and vessels arriving in New Zealand
11. Enhance our ability to prevent unwanted exotic species from entering New Zealand and the ability to respond to any incursions that do occur.
    

    C) Preventing BSE (Mad Cow Disease) and MAP (Mycobacterium avium Paratuberculosis)

    No cases of BSE have been reported in New Zealand, and we want to keep it that way. To further reduce the risk of diseases such as BSE entering New Zealand, we need to follow World Health Organisation advice and global best practice. The Green Party will:
12. Prohibit the use of mechanically recovered meat in the food chain.
13. Require high temperature rendering at all rendering plants.
14. Remove high-risk material from carcasses before they enter the food chain.
15. Encourage imports of cattle semen and embryos over live imports, preferably from certified organic stock.
16. Establish a definitive policy for controlling Mycobacterium avium Paratuberculosis (MAP) in New Zealand sheep and dairy herds.

7. Strengthening Rural Communities

Some rural communities have become ghosts of their former selves as services have declined as a result of government policy, farm consolidation, and because of the substitution of capital for labour in rural enterprise. When an area no longer has schools, health care, financial and social services and opportunities for social interaction, most people are unwilling to live there.The Green Party believes that rural living and working can be attractive to more New Zealanders. The Green Party will:

1. Develop a strategy for ensuring the sustainability of rural communities that includes:
   1. Developing essential infrastructure in rural towns such as potable water supply and wastewater treatment systems.
   2. Ensuring access to basic services such as rural roads, education, health, communication and justice. This may require a higher per person expenditure for these services in rural areas than in urban areas.
   3. Encouraging people to move to rural towns and areas to work, especially in activities that contribute to sustainable land use, and to establish businesses, especially those involved in adding value to primary products. This is predicated on appropriate infrastructure and services being in place to meet the needs of increased populations.
   4. Encouraging the development of sustainable processing plants for co-operative ventures run by local producers.
   5. Addressing security of tenure of rural land by reviewing the public works act to give people confidence in decision-making about land management, and ongoing involvement in their communities.
2. Amend the Overseas Investment Act to restrict the sale of rural property to New Zealand citizens, or to residents who reside in New Zealand for at least 185 days a year for three years before purchase
3. Develop legislation to encourage farm ownership to be held by the farm resident operator. This will encourage family farm and Maori or community co-operative structures and will discourage excessive consolidation of farming properties and the negative community effects of absentee corporate ownership

8. Promoting Rural – Urban Linkages and managing public access

There is a growing disconnection between rural and urban New Zealand. Some rural people feel that urban views are increasingly dictating what they can and cannot do. At the same time they feel pressured by market demands for cost cutting. The Green Party believes that the growing disconnection between urban and rural people and their livelihoods and experiences is not healthy. It is important that greater understanding, connectivity and cooperation between rural and urban dwellers is fostered. This will facilitate more positive outcomes on complex issues such as public access to conservation lands and paper roads.

A) Rural – Urban Linkages

To help promote better links between rural and urban New Zealanders, the Green Party will:
1. Ensure a rural – urban community mix and dialogue in catchment and Regional and District management plan development, recognising the problems and benefits need full community understanding, representation and support.
2. Foster consumer supported agriculture and direct marketing of produce to local consumers.
3. Support urban people to engage more with landcare groups and volunteer on schemes such as WOOF (Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms New Zealand, formerly Willing Workers on Organic Farms New Zealand).
4. As part of the incorporation of environmental education into the core school curriculum, support the teaching of the origins and production of food, nutrition, and basic cooking and organic gardening skills
   

   B) Managing Public Access

   The Green Party generally supports the right of the public to access conservation areas and paper roads. We will:
5. Support the creation of a public access commissioner to:
   1. Build relationships between landowners and land users.
   2. Develop a code of conduct for public use of access ways that incorporates respect and sensitivity to farmers, in collaboration with the Department of Conservation, local government, land owners (including iwi), and other agencies/organisations as appropriate – with strong penalties for breaches.
   3. Provide financial support for landowners to erect signs and to fence their properties.
   4. Provide reliable geographic information on the location of public access ways of all types to users and landholders.
   5. Ensure existing paper roads remain open, are adequately marked, and that complaints concerning obstruction of them are resolved.
   6. Provide community mediation, work with councils and assist them to enforce the law and provide appropriate signage.
   7. Research and collect information from all users about land access issues.
   8. Two years after its establishment, report to Parliament about whether there is a need for legislation to resolve issues and improve public access to land.

9. Humane Treatment of Animals in Agriculture

The Green Party believes that all animals must be treated with compassion and respect, and if they are killed that this must be done in a humane manner. Animals used in agriculture must be provided with all the essentials of food, water, and protection from harm during farming, and should be given the freedom to move and express a range of normal forms of behaviour. The Green party proposes a range of measures to ensure humane treatment of animals in agriculture and these are detailed fully in our (draft) Animal Welfare policy. Some of these measures include:

1. Establishing a Commissioner of Animal Welfare, which will be independent of political parties and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and which will report to parliament.
2. Working with farmers and other stakeholders to eliminate, over the next decade, farming methods that cause animals to suffer or prevent them from expressing normal patterns of behaviour. In particular we will move to:
   1. Phase out sow stalls and farrowing crates within 5 years, with the exception of sows during farrowing who may be temporarily confined for up to 72 hours.
   2. Phase out battery hen cages within 5 years
   3. Phase out, within 5 years, painful techniques including de-beaking of hens and mulesing of sheep in association with the development of alternative, humane practices
   4. Ensure that all agricultural animals are provided with shade, shelter and comfortable resting areas.
3. Promoting legislation that will require animals to be slaughtered as near as possible to the point of production and requiring specific transport conditions, in order to minimise stress for animals
4. Investigating the development of commercial farm kill services for the domestic supply of meat
5. Encouraging the exchange of breeding material through semen, egg and embryo import and export
6. Supporting the breeding of genetic lines with inherent disease resistance and discouraging the use of breeds with inherent deformities or susceptibilities

10. Te Tiriti

Rural affairs operate within a Tiriti framework and rural communities need support to understand the relationship between hapu and the Crown. Institutions and programmes also need to support Mäori to sustainably utilise their rural resources.The Green Party will:

1. Recognise ancestral land ownership and kaitiakitanga in rural areas.
2. Negotiate with hapu to ensure that the approach to access issues, waahi tapu protection and resource management issues are cognisant of Te Tiriti.
3. Educate the public to increase their understanding of Te Tiriti and its fair and practical implementation in rural areas.
4. Ensure that the development of incentives, disincentives, ratings, carbon credits and other economic instruments take multiply-owned Mäori land owners into account.
5. Support Mäori land use through methods such as requiring banks to make credit available for use on multiply-owned Mäori land as if it were singly owned.
6. Support Maori protection of cultural and traditional knowledge, and intellectual property rights, from bio-prospecting and other means of misappropriation. This will assist the use and development of indigenous species in Maori agricultural enterprise.