April 29, 2022

New Zealand plans to amend its dairy law

The New Zealand government said it plans to amend the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act 2001 (DIRA) to support Fonterra Co-Operative Group's shift to a new capital structure that would make it easier for new farmers to join the cooperative, Reuters reported.

Damien O'Connor, New Zealand Agriculture Minister, said they are proposing a series of adjustments to DIRA that strike a compromise between respecting the shareholders' mandate for reform and ensuring the successful operation of the larger dairy industry.

Fonterra would be able to partially delink farmer-owned shares from Fonterra Shareholder's Fund units, improve transparency around milk price setting for farmers, support liquidity and transparency in the trade of Fonterra shares owned by farmers, and support the co-ability operative's to access capital as a result of the planned changes.

O'Conner said the Ministry of Primary Industries will confer with interested and impacted parties on these proposed revisions from April through May, taking their input into account.

-      Reuters