81811 (2024). Hon Jo Luxton to the Minister of Agriculture

81811 (2024). Hon Jo Luxton to the Minister of Agriculture: If bird flu were to be found in New Zealand’s dairy cows, what would be the implications for dairy exports, and could this risk jeopardize New Zealand’s compliance with international trade agreements?

Hon Todd McClay: New Zealand has never had a case of the H5N1 strain high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI), a type of avian influenza (bird flu) that affects domestic and wild birds. HPAI is not a recognised risk for pasteurised dairy products. Standard pasteurisation has been demonstrated to be effective at inactivating the HPAI virus which would make any exported pasteurised dairy product safe to trade. MPI would continue to certify product for export in compliance with international arrangements.