Nov 28, 2025
DINZ and the Export Licensing Working Group (ELWG) continue to advance the export licensing work programme in direct response to what farmers and processors have asked us to explore: a more disciplined, transparent, and market-aligned system that strengthens New Zealand’s position in Asia and supports long-term value creation for velvet.
Damon Paling explains how export licensing would work at the Branch Chairs meeting earlier this year.
The industry originally asked DINZ to look at a single-desk model similar to Zespri. After careful assessment, export licensing emerged as the more practical, proportionate, and realistic pathway — one that maintains commercial autonomy while lifting industry-wide standards for velvet at the point of export.
Engagement with government agencies continues, and discussions remain constructive. However, early ambitions to move faster have proven challenging. There is now a much clearer recognition that the legislative pathway will take more time than originally hoped.
DINZ expects to have a better read on Ministerial thinking early in the New Year once officials have completed their internal work and provided advice. This timing matters: intervention via export licensing for the 2026/27 velvet season was the original ambitious target, but there is a significant pipeline of legislation to go through the system before next year’s general election.
Although timing is challenging, the fundamentals remain sound, says DINZ Trade and Strategy Manager Damon Paling.
“The industry’s position is being laid out clearly with officials, and the work completed has set up a bipartisan foundation so the next stage of the process — whether before or after the election — has political coverage across both sides of the House. This groundwork is critical to ensure that no matter which government is in place, the industry’s objectives are understood and supported.”
DINZ is committed to a disciplined, steady approach: progress where possible, honesty about constraints, and clear communication back to farmers and processors.
Why export licensing matters
Export licensing remains a valuable, low-complexity tool that strengthens the industry’s value proposition without creating new burdens on-farm. Key benefits for strengthened self-regulation continue to resonate strongly across the sector:
- Fairness and transparency: A clearer, more consistent standard for exporters, helping ensure that velvet leaving the country meets the expectations of key Asian customers.
- Mitigate additional farm audits or costs: Export licensing creates no new requirements at the farm level. Audit and assurance settings on-farm remain unchanged.
- Focus at the point of export: Obligations sit with the exporter and RMP facilities. This is a clean and practical separation from VelTrak, which governs domestic handling from farm gate to RMP.
- Improved market confidence: Customers in China and Korea (and hopefully Vietnam in the future) are increasingly seeking provenance, grading integrity, and quality assurance. Licensing helps address these expectations.
- More cohesive marketing: A consistent industry message offshore will reinforce the unique attributes of New Zealand velvet — making it harder to substitute within customers’ value chains — while supporting stronger long-term partnerships and positioning our velvet firmly at the premium end of the market.
VelTrak and export licensing work together but serve different roles: VelTrak ensures domestic discipline; export licensing ensures export discipline. Collectively, they help strengthen trust, confidence, and transparency across the entire value chain.
All ELWG input into the draft Export Marketing Strategy has been captured and is informing internal development work. As the legislative picture becomes clearer in early 2026, the strategy will be revisited to ensure alignment with the eventual structure and timing of export licensing.
While the pathway could be longer than first hoped, the direction remains positive and industry-led. DINZ and the ELWG will continue progressing the work in a measured, realistic way — consistent with what farmers and exporters have asked us to pursue. The focus remains on securing a framework that supports sustainable value, stronger market confidence, and a more unified New Zealand presence offshore. An update will be provided early in the new year once Ministerial and MPI signals are clearer.
