This Government bill amends the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act 2001 to change how dairy export quotas administered by New Zealand are allocated. It was enacted as the Dairy Industry Restructuring (Export Licences Allocation) Amendment Act 2025.
Parliament advanced this bill under urgency (committee of whole house, second reading, third reading) — moving it through faster than usual, with less time than normal for public submissions.
New Zealand can export limited quantities of dairy into certain countries at low tariffs under "tariff-rate quotas," and the right to use that quota is allocated through export licences administered here for markets such as the EU, UK, US, Japan and the Dominican Republic. This bill amends the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act 2001 to change how those licences are shared out — moving from allocation based on each company's share of the milk solids it collects to allocation based on recent export-volume history, and enabling regulations to reserve a pool (around 10%) for new and small exporters. It also extends the system to non-bovine dairy such as sheep and goat products.
It is a Government bill updating rules written when the industry was dominated by one large processor. Supporters argue it opens valuable quota to smaller and newer exporters, boosts competition and lifts under-used quota, helping grow export earnings. Critics note that established large exporters could receive a smaller share, and that changing long-standing allocations creates commercial uncertainty for incumbents.
See the Parliament.nz ↗ site for the full bill.