Up to 80 MAF border protection jobs face axe

A 13 per cent drop in cargo volumes and 4 per cent fall in passenger arrivals has triggered plans to axe 60 jobs in biosecurity operations protecting the border.

Biosecurity New Zealand said today it was reviewing its operations at the border.

The arm of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry wanted to make 30 staff redundant and "disestablish" another 30 jobs, which are vacant.

MAF has about 700 staff in its passenger, cargo and border standards arms.

"While steps have already been taken across the organisation to reduce expenditure, such as reducing discretionary spending and freezing non-essential recruitment, these are not enough to balance the budget, particularly with the reduction in third party revenue," MAF cargo clearance director Steve Stuart said.

"The ministry is now considering the actual resources needed to service lower trade volumes and how it can work better to meet fluctuating demand at the border."

Border staff had been given a copy of the proposed cuts and encouraged to make submissions on ways to achieve the required efficiencies.

- NZPA