Leaked BDO report says privatising meat inspections will drive up costs
Monday, 15 December 2025
A leaked report funded by government-owned AsureQuality says a proposal to partially privatise meat inspections will increase costs, remove choice for processors and create problems for small operators if it goes ahead.
Under the proposals, which are being consulted on by Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) until January 23, all primary processors of red meat ‒ including beef, venison, goat and pork ‒ would have to carry out some post-mortem inspection activities themselves rather than being able to call on AsureQuality.
The proposal is opposed by the Public Sector Association union for public sector workers, which says the move would see many independent meat inspectors at AsureQuality replaced with meat company employees.
The union, which is planning a rally at Parliament on Monday at noon, says the proposal is “all about boosting the profits of meat companies by undermining the pay of workers”, including some of its own members.
AsureQuality’s submission on the proposal, which is circulating among inspectors, says it would be risky to move away from the current “safe, compliant” inspection system trusted by export partner countries, in which AsureQuality staff carry out most of the inspection.
And the attached BDO report concludes overall costs for meat inspection would go up under the plan, with the costs, and risks, falling most heavily on smaller red meat processors.
The report contains a cost case study of a fictional beef processing plant, in which it estimates annual costs for a single chain plant increasing significantly from $861,000 to $1.07 million, with set up costs of $343,000 per plant.
The increased costs would come from each plant having to train examiners and keep inspectors on the payroll, as well as maintaining reserve staff. They would also have to invest in technology to record inspections.
AsureQuality also feared it would be harder to find people willing to work as inspectors, leading to shortages and greater risks of processing stoppages.
AsureQuality chief executive Kim Ballinger did not confirm the BDO report and submission were from AsureQuality, but said: “As the (MPI) public consultation process for the proposed changes to the regulatory and inspection system for red meat exports is currently under way, we don’t comment on leaked or partial documents or speculate on potential outcomes.”
The company was “incredibly proud” of the “exceptional” meat inspection service its staff provided, she said.
PSA national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons told The Post the analysis by the Government’s own meat inspection service was a “damning indictment of a proposal that puts at risk our $10 billion a year red meat export industry”.
BDO’s report should mark the end of what she called the “flawed proposal to privatise meat inspection”.
Sirma Karapeeva, chief executive of the Meat Industry Association, said it would publish its thoughts on the proposal in the coming days.
After The Post reported the PSA had written to the Chinese and US embassies about the proposal, ACT’s rural communities spokesman Mark Cameron said the union would rather “collapse the value of our meat exports than have its members face competition in delivering meat inspection services”.
“The argument that private inspectors have lower standards than PSA members is mindless. Everyone involved in the meat sector takes real pride in the quality of and safety of their products, because their livelihoods depend on it,” he said.