Methane emission target reset
OPINION: For close to eight years now, I have found myself talking about methane quite a lot.
Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard with Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Rural and Regional Development Dato’ Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid bin Haji Hamid.
New Zealand and Malaysia have agreed to boost trade for high-quality halal meat products.
Andrew Hoggard, Minister for Food Safety, says that Malaysia is a significant market for New Zealand’s premium halal meat products, with exports of more than $60 million last year.
“Malaysia is facilitating the approval of several New Zealand halal meat premises seeking first-time access to this market, which is crucial to growing exports,” Hoggard says.
He says that with a population of over 35 million people, new access will help set the stage for significant growth in the Malaysian market.
“Once approved, this will boost returns for Kiwi farmers, processors and exporters,” Hoggard says.
Malaysian authorities will visit the new premises to review their halal production processes as part of the approval process.
This progress was announced yesterday at a Halal Forum in Wellington, hosted by Hoggard and Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Rural and Regional Development Dato’ Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid bin Haji Hamidi.
Dato’ Seri Zahid says New Zealand and Malaysia are also working closely together to streamline the export requirements for halal meat.
“Malaysia places significant importance on compliance with halal requirements,” he says.
Dato’ Seri Zahid says Malaysia is working hard with New Zealand to strengthen halal collaboration, which includes refreshing the requirements for the export of halal meat to Malaysia.
“This is a testament to the strong relationship between both countries, and the confidence Malaysia has in New Zealand’s halal processing and assurance systems,” he says.
Meanwhile, Hoggard says the refreshed requirements will help provide certainty for Kiwi producers in areas including registration of new premises, documentation, processing, labelling, packaging, and storage.
“New Zealand remains fully committed to our strong relationship with Malaysia and supplying the best quality halal products to consumers in this important market,” he says.
A function at Parliament on 7th October brought together central government decision-makers, MPs, industry stakeholders and commercial partners to highlight the need for strategic investment in the future of Fieldays and its home, the Mystery Creek Events Centre campus.
The Government's revised 2050 biogenic methane target range of 14-24% by 2050 is being welcomed by dairy farmers.
An increasing number of students are doing agricultural and horticultural degrees at Massey University by distance learning.
ANZ New Zealand is encouraging farmers and businesses impacted by the recent extreme weather that hit Southland and South Otago last week to seek support if they need it.
When Professor Pierre Venter takes up his new role as vice chancellor at Massey University next February it will just be a matter of taking a few steps across the road to get to his new office at the Palmerston North Campus.
Two rural data organisations - DairyNZ’s DairyBase and Farm Focus - have formed a new partnership that aims to remove data duplication and help provide more timely, useful benchmarking insights for farmers.

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