B+LNZ is representing our farmers’ interests where it matters. Staff recently spent time engaging with policymakers, industry leaders and NGOs in London, Geneva, Brussels and Rome, focusing on free trade opportunities, policies, taking a split gas approach to methane, challenging trade barriers, and opportunities for collaboration.
B+LNZ’s General Manager – Policy & Communications, Rowena Hume, and Director – UK & EU, Macaulay Jones, spent two weeks talking to decisionmakers, NGOs and farmer organisation counterparts.
Decisions made in these markets affect what New Zealand farmers can sell, the costs they face, and the returns they receive. Our focus is on turning our free trade agreements into opportunities and ensuring new rules recognise the strengths of New Zealand farming.
The following are some key areas covered.
Building global support for a split-gas approach
A key priority was working with farming organisations in the UK and the EU to build global consensus on a split-gas approach.
This approach recognises that short-lived gases such as methane behave differently from long-lived gases such as carbon dioxide. Reporting them separately provides a clearer picture of their contribution to warming and a stronger foundation for agricultural climate policy.
Working in partnership with the National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales, B+LNZ continues to bring together agricultural organisations from around the world in a joint statement calling for countries to adopt split-gas emissions reporting under the Paris Agreement.
Our discussions with UK, European and South American counterparts during the trip focused on bringing on new partners to the joint statement ahead of COP31 and encouraging organisations to take the call to their own governments. We had some encouraging conversations with a number of organisations.
Building a shared international position strengthens our ability to secure policies that accurately reflect methane’s warming impact and recognise progress by farmers.
A changing approach to livestock in Europe
Meetings highlighted a more positive perspective in Europe towards livestock farming, with renewed emphasis on food security, resilient production and reducing regulatory complexity. There has been a noticeable shift.
The focus on food security in the EU is the result of the impact COVID-19, conflict in Ukraine and high fuel prices have had on food prices and EU production.
However, Europe’s renewed focus on supporting domestic production is accompanied by pressure to impose additional requirements on imports, including animal welfare standards. New Zealand’s high standards are recognised, but that recognition must translate into fair and practical trade rules.
The EUDR illustrates how poorly designed requirements can impose costly compliance burdens on low-risk countries such as New Zealand, creating unnecessary barriers to market access. We are concerned that a wider shift towards EU-specific requirements risks sidelining science-based international standards and weakening the role of the organisations that develop them.
Our message is clear: market access requirements must be proportionate, grounded in evidence and consistent with relevant international standards, including Codex food safety standards. Different production practices must not become a pretext for restricting safe, sustainably produced New Zealand food.
European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)
This law, which aims to ensure that products imported to the EU are not linked to deforestation or forest degradation, comes into force at the end of the year.
B+LNZ has long argued this regulation is onerous, complex and a non-tariff barrier to trade.
New Zealand is incredibly low-risk, with an afforestation problem, but our exporters still have to jump through costly hoops to show compliance.
Our previous advocacy efforts strongly influenced the EU decision to delay its implementation and to exclude some key products, including New Zealand’s hides and skins.
Rowena and Macaulay reiterated our concerns to the European Commission, building on sustained sector advocacy for delays, simplification, and recognition of New Zealand’s circumstances.
B+LNZ is working closely with the Meat Industry Association and companies as preparations continue ahead of the EUDR’s implementation.
Defending the international trading system
At the World Trade Organization’s Public Forum in Geneva, Rowena and Macaulay discussed how countries and farming organisations can work together to defend predictable, rules-based trade.
For an export-dependent sector like ours, international trade rules matter. They provide a basis for challenging unjustified restrictions and help protect smaller countries against decisions driven by political or economic power.
B+LNZ’s recent appointment as an affiliate member of the World Farmers’ Organisation provided another avenue to strengthen this work, coordinating with farming representatives from countries including Brazil, Norway, the Netherlands, Georgia, Canada and the UK.
Making the case for livestock’s wider contribution
At the FAO Global Conference on One Health in Rome, Rowena spoke on a panel about New Zealand’s farming systems and the contribution livestock makes to healthy food systems, landscapes and communities.
One Health recognises the connections between soils, water, biodiversity, plant and animal health, animal welfare, and human wellbeing, including farmer mental health. It offers an opportunity to assess livestock farming’s full contribution alongside its environmental impacts.
New Zealand’s farming systems very much fit within the One Health approach and there are opportunities for us to take advantage of this conversation to tell our story.
Strengthening UK partnerships
Meetings with UK farming organisations, including the full National Farmers’ Union Livestock Board, reinforced the value of close relationships with farmers facing many of the same pressures.
Alongside our work together to build international support for split-gas reporting, discussions covered shared policy and production challenges, and practical areas for collaboration, including in the extension space.
These relationships give New Zealand farmers a stronger voice in decisions overseas – and help turn shared concerns into coordinated action.