The Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) is responsible for the controls over food of animal origin. MPI was formed in 2012 as a merger of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), the Ministry of Fisheries (MFish), and the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA).
The MPI is structured into four main Branches dealing with sanitary “meat” matters, namely Regulation and Assurance, Operations, Policy and Trade and Corporate Services. Further details are available on the MPI website. Several Directorates within the different branches are involved in the control system for meat and meat products.
Systems Audit, Assurance and Monitoring
The Directorate of the Regulation and Assurance Branch provides assurances that the food safety systems are operated in line with the MPI’s standards. This is achieved through chemical/microbiological monitoring, species verification, systems audits and Hormonal Growth Promotant standards.
Verification Services
The Directorate of the Regulation and Assurance Branch is the former Verification Animal Product Directorate. It is divided in 70 locations – about 60 export slaughterhouses and 10 local offices. Additional circuit staff is controlling meat processing establishments and cold stores that do not require the permanent presence of a veterinarian.
The core function of the Directorate is to audit risk management programs (RMPs), generic export standards, market-specific requirements, to carry out on-the spot checks on products of animal origin produced under those programs, to apply corrective actions and to provide export certification.
Compliance
The Directorate of the Operations Branch is responsible for the operational delivery of compliance and investigation, including enforcement.
AsureQuality is a state-owned enterprise that is responsible for carrying out post mortem inspections in slaughterhouses. AsureQuality is also responsible for carrying out controls on cattle identification and movements in sales yards.
Control systems
The official control system is based on audits and verifications. The food business operators (slaughterhouses, storage plants) are required to have Risk Management Programs in place or to operate in accordance with a regulated control scheme. The food business operators are given performance ratings based on the results of the verifications and audits of the Verification Services. The different performance level has an impact on the frequency of verification. The official veterinarians in slaughterhouses are required (besides their weekly notes) to carry out monthly performance-based verification checks on different topics. The topics cover for example, Risk Management Programs and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), microbiological criteria, general export requirements, certification, and other foreign country requirements. All topics have to be covered at least annually. Cutting plants, cold stores and casing establishments do not require a permanent presence of an official veterinarian. These establishments are visited weekly by circuit staff - a combination of official veterinarians and official auxiliaries, whereas the visits are carried out at least monthly by official veterinarians.
Source: DG(SANTE) 2014-7233 - MR
