Proposal to increase NZKGI’s levy
NZKGI has grown substantially in recent years resulting in an increased output in the organizations’ value for growers.
For NZKGI’s 2021 AGM, a motion is proposed to change the organisations levy from 1 cent per tray of kiwifruit exported outside New Zealand (excluding Australia) to 1.1 cent, an increase of a tenth of one cent. The resolution stems from a unanimous decision made at the March 2021 Forum meeting in recognition that NZKGI’s activities should be maintained, and that this was not possible within the current levy rate.
NZKGI’s Commodity Levy has funded the organisation since 2012. At the last levy renewal referendum in February 2017, growers voted to set a maximum levy rate of 1.5 cents per tray, which the proposed 1.1 cent falls within.
With the proposed levy, NZKGI intends to continue to operate as it has for the past five years with activities in each of our six portfolios. Continuing NZKGI’s current outputs is not feasible with the current resourcing. Key points to this are:
- Two staff are currently co-funded by government. This means that the output of the organisation would decrease if these positions were no longer funded by Government and NZKGI did not have the resource to fund them.
- Current staff are working beyond capacity and this is not sustainable.
- The organisation is going through a transition period with the changeover of CEO’s.
NZKGI has published detailed information covering the value the organisation’s six portfolios have delivered to Growers in recent years. We encourage you to read these highlights here.