There are "significant risks" in plans to axe 60 jobs in biosecurity operations protecting the border, the Public Service Association (PSA) says.

Biosecurity New Zealand said yesterday it was reviewing its operations at the border because of a 13 percent drop in cargo volumes and 4 percent fall in passenger arrivals.

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

But PSA national secretary Richard Wagstaff, said the Government was also responsible for the job losses as it cut the baseline funding for MAF Biosecurity by $1.9 million in the May budget.

Biosecurity staff work protect the multi-billion dollar agriculture sector from pests and diseases.

Mr Wagstaff warned that the farming and horticulture industries could be ruined if diseases such as foot and mouth and pests such a fruitfly got into the country. "It's vital that these job cuts don't weaken our defences in this area," said Mr Wagstaff.

A foot-and-mouth incursion could cut 20,000 jobs and reduce gross domestic product by $10 billion over a two-year period.

"We are not opposed to public service staffing being linked to demand for public services," Mr Wagstaff said.

"But staff numbers should be increased when demand for public services rises."

Job cuts could actually increase biosecurity costs if staff had to do extra overtime or be brought back as the workload increased.

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 have been given a copy of the proposed cuts and encouraged to make submissions on ways to achieve the required savings.