Fair for Farmers and Animal Policy International

Unable to put forward credible arguments against Fair For Farmers’ common sense ask on imports; Federated Farmers have decided to try to attack the people involved in the campaign instead.

They claim to have been 'digging' into something 'murky and disturbing'. In reality, they read some information publicly available on our website for everyone to see and looked us up on LinkedIn. They also seem to have forgotten the meetings they've had with Animal Policy International since 2023. We don't think Jared Savage has anything to worry about.

Animal Policy International (registered NZ charity CC63828), helped establish Fair For Farmers and provides research, trade expertise and operational support for the campaign. It is a trade policy organisation dedicated to the issue of equalising animal welfare standards for imports with standards for domestic products.

Some of its team have backgrounds in animal welfare advocacy. That's because talking about the differences in standards requires this, and because this issue matters both to farmers and to those who also care about animal welfare. This has always been publicly available information and was featured in an article.

Why this campaign exists

Kiwi farmers are being undercut by imports produced to standards we've banned here, an issue NZ Pork has been raising for years. Over 60% of pork sold in New Zealand is imported, around 90% of it from countries where sow stalls are still legal; a practice banned in NZ a decade ago. Our farmers have invested in meeting higher standards. Their reward is competing against products that don't have to.

The campaign grew because a dairy farmer read the research, recognised the problem, and started speaking out. Fair for Farmers exists so that farmers can tell their own stories and make the case in their own words. A dairy farmer in the Waikato and an animal welfare lover in Auckland might have different reasons for wanting the same policy - and both matters.

API has been working to assemble analysis of New Zealand trade data, independent legal opinion, and public polling to show that Fair For Farmers’ ask is legal, popular and will benefit our farmers.

Over 80% of New Zealanders agree imports should meet our standards. This is one of those issues that farmers and animal advocates agree on: if it's not ok to produce in New Zealand, it's not ok to import and sell.

The evidence speaks for itself

This is a common-sense policy. No one, including Federated Farmers, have provided a serious critique of this evidence. They have no credible arguments against our ask. That’s why they’re now trying to attack the people who work on the campaign instead. A blog by the General Manager of The Campaign Company further played the man, not the ball. We think farmers deserve better than being told who they should and shouldn't work with - and they need solutions.

This policy is legal, popular, and has international precedent. California applied welfare standards to pork imports through Proposition 12. The US Supreme Court upheld it in 2023. The EU requires equivalent slaughter standards for imported meat and has committed to applying future cage-free standards to imports. There has been zero trade retaliation from any comparable policy anywhere in the world.

The legal basis rests on a public morals case under international trade rules. It works precisely because it's grounded in genuine public concerns for animal welfare - not protectionism. If it were just about protecting market share, it wouldn't survive a legal challenge. The fact that animal welfare advocates and farmers both want the same outcome is what makes this policy legally sound and practically achievable.

We’ve always been fully transparent about our motivations. The ask is good for Kiwi farmers, but it will also be good for the welfare of animals globally, as well as the public’s demand for higher welfare products.

So where's Federated Farmers' analysis?

Rather than engaging with the evidence - the trade data, the legal analysis, the supply chain research, Federated Farmers have chosen to go after the people who produced it. Not a single finding in API's reports has been disputed. Not the 60% import figure. Not the legal basis. Not the polling. Not the fact that every major exporter already produces far more welfare-compliant products than New Zealand's market requires.

Federated Farmers is supposed to advocate for all its members, including the pig and egg farmers being undercut right now. Instead, it is spending its energy attacking the people trying to help them. We'd like to know: has Federated Farmers conducted its own independent analysis of this issue? And if not, on what basis have they taken such a strong public position against it? What will they do to level the playing field on imports?

We are committed to transparency and welcome scrutiny of the evidence. We'd encourage anyone with concerns to read API’s reports and judge the data for themselves. Here you can see Animal Policy International reports.

Talk to Us

Any farmers with questions about working alongside API - get in touch. Email us at hello@fairforfarmers.nz

We’d love to set up a quick call so you can decide for yourself if you are happy to collaborate with us to ensure New Zealand’s trade rules are fair for farmers, fair for consumers and - yes - better for animals too.