We provide leadership on plant industry market access

Industry and Government members meet  four to six times a year to agree strategies, discuss and prioritise market access activities undertaken by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI)  and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade (MFAT).   PMAC members provide advice and input into:

• MPI’s strategic  approach to market access activities (e.g. ranks overseas  markets to inform MPI's involvement in market access activity with specific markets)
• Items on MPI’s annual workplan for the plant exports technical and market access groups 
• The development of export assurance programmes
• MPI’s input to Free Trade Agreements  and to WTO meetings
• Communication of new developments  and issues  that may impact sectors.

Our leadership

Michael Ahie – Chairperson

Helen Gear – Executive Officer

Michael Ahie was appointed Independent Chair of PMAC on 1 July 2016. He replaced Russ Ballard who was Chair for six years.
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Michael has a strong background in primary industry and in governance. He is currently Chancellor of Massey University; Chair of the Board of ComplyWith and Chair of Plant and Food Research. He is also a director of FMG and Spring Sheep Milk Co; a member of the New Zealand Food Safety and Assurance Advisory Council and of Inland Revenue's Risk and Assurance Committee. Before becoming involved in governance, Michael worked with a number of multinational companies including Toyota New Zealand Ltd, the New Zealand Dairy Board and Wrightson Ltd and was a founding partner of leadership and business coaching company AltusQ.

Helen Gear administers PMAC’s affairs from her office in Wellington. She is responsible for the coordination of all PMAC activity and services.
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For 22 years Helen owned and ran a wholesale Plant Nursery (Heritage Horticulture) in the Waikato between 1980 and 2002. In 2002, Helen moved to Wellington and worked for the Foundation for Research Science and Technology for four years, after which she contracted to a number of Government departments including: DOC, ERMA NZ (now the EPA) and MAF Biosecurity New Zealand. With this range of experience, she appreciates the range of perspectives at the PMAC table and is familiar with industry issues and agency processes.

Our membership

Plant Industry Representatives

Government Agency Representatives

Andy Warren
New Zealand Flower Exporters
(021) 506 000
andy@bloomz.co.nz

Shaun Slattery
Kiwifruit Industry
(027) 707 9969
Shaun.Slattery@Zespri.com

Chris Claridge
Potatoes NZ
(021)577387
chris.claridge@potatoesnz.co.nz

Helen Barnes
Tomato  Sector
(02) 348 948
helen.barnes@hortnz.co.nz 

Jen Scoular
New Zealand Avocado
(021) 480 407
jen.scoular@nzavocado.co.nz

James Kuperus
Onions NZ
(027)555 0072
James.Kuperus@onionsnz.com

Juan Rosales
Summerfruit NZ
(022) 513 1953
juan@summerfruitnz.co.nz

Paul Turner
New Zealand Plant Producers  Incorporated
(021) 270 7380
paul@liners.co.nz

Leanne Stewart
Hort NZ
(021) 582 711 
Leanne.Stewart@hortnz.co.nz

Simon Hegarty
Horticultural Exporters Authority
(021) 708 147
simon@hea.co.nz

Gary Jones
New Zealand Apple and Pears
(021) 758314
Gary@applesandpears.nz

Thomas Chin 
New Zealand Grain Seed Trade Association
(021) 679 989 
thomas.chin@seedindustrynz.co.nz

Tony Ponder
Horticultural Exporters Authority
(027) 473 3712 
tony@southernproduce.co.nz

Stephen Ogden
Citrus NZ
(021) 773 502
Stephen@solutionz.co.nz

 Peter Thomson
Director MPI Plants and Pathways
(04) 894 0353
peter.thomson@mpi.govt.nz

Steve Ainsworth
Director MPI Market Access
(04) 819 4289
Steven.Ainsworth@mpi.govt.nz

Brian Wilson
Manager Trade and Negotiation Division
Brian.wilson@MFAT.govt.nz

Independent Verification Agencies  representatives

Phil Schunk
SGS
(027) 5 241 380
phil.schunk@sgs.com

Vicki Gadd
AsureQuality 
(021) 21 888 722
Vicki.Gadd@asurequality.com

Massimo (Max) Ciccioni
The AgriChain Centre
(0274) 451 309
mciccioni@agrichain-centre.com

Freight Forwarder membership

Rosemarie Dawson
Executive Director CBAFF
(09) 419 0042
rosemarie@CBAFF.org.nz