The Dairy Industry Restructuring Act is an Act of Parliament passed in New Zealand in 2001.
The Act authorised the amalgamation of New Zealand's two largest dairy co-operatives - New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company Ltd and Kiwi Co-operative Dairies Ltd - into Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited and the resulting ownership by Fonterra of all the shares in the New Zealand Dairy Board.[1]
In order to prevent the monopoly position of Fonterra from being anticompetitive the Act requires an open entry and exit of farmers into and out of the co-operative, and up to 600 million litres of raw milk made available to competitors. These are used in conjunction with the Commerce Act 1986.[2]
The Act is administered by the Ministry for Primary Industries.