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Pet Food Manufacturing—FAQ on Regulatory Requirements

June 2009

I am thinking of manufacturing pet food for commercial sale. What legislation do I need to comply with?

Pet food manufacturers have to comply with a number of different pieces of legislation.

The relevant pieces of legislation that are administered by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) are the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Act 1997 (ACVM Act) and the Animal Products Act 1999 (APA). Both of these Acts have their own sets of Regulations, Orders and Notices.

You are also responsible for ensuring that you are familiar and comply with other legislation relevant to this business, such as the Fair Trading Act 1986, Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 and the Resource Management Act 1991. Your local council may be able to help, and detailed queries should be discussed with the government department that administers the particular Act.

Do I need to comply with the ACVM Act or the APA or both?

The ACVM Act applies to all pet food manufacturers.

In addition to the ACVM Act, the APA will apply if you:

• are a primary processor (that is, if your manufacturing process includes slaughter and dressing of animals), or

• produce pet food that requires official assurances from NZFSA (such as products intended for export), or

• process (other than transport or store) pet food that is raw meat or other animal material/product that results from the death of the source animal (for example red meat, offal, poultry or fish).

For the first two activities you need to operate under a risk management programme (RMP), which would need to be registered under the APA by NZFSA prior to commencing operations. General information on RMP is available in an information pamphlet at http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/animalproducts/publications/info-pamphlet/rmp/riskmanagementprogrammes.htm.

For the third activity, unless you are exempt, you need to operate under the requirements outlined in the Animal Products (Specifications for Products Intended for Animal Consumption) Notice 2006 (http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/animalproducts/legislation/notices/animal-material-product/animal-consumption/index.htm). These requirements are further explained in the response to the next question. This Notice includes the situations that are exempt from these requirements, such as where the raw meat or animal material or product has been rendered.

I will not be primary processing but will include meat in the pet food. Do I need to comply with requirements other than the ACVM Act requirements?

If you use raw meat, offal, poultry or fish as pet food ingredients, you will be termed as a secondary processor under the APA. You do not require an RMP but must meet the following two requirements under the APA:

• you must be able to demonstrate that animal material has been procured from regulated sources

• you must be listed with NZFSA. The listing requirement means you must supply NZFSA certain information such as your business name and contact details, and the type of pet food you manufacture.

These are the outcomes of the Animal Feeds Review (http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/animalproducts/subject/petfood/animal-feeds-review/index.htm).

Where can I find the ACVM Act, the APA and their associated Regulations?

You can download these from the New Zealand Legislation website (http://www.legislation.govt.nz/). Other APA legislation, such as Specifications, can be found at: http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/animalproducts/legislation/index.htm.

Where can I find guidance on what I need to do to comply with the ACVM Act and/or the APA?

Information relating to the operational aspects of these two pieces of legislation is available on NZFSA website:

• for ACVM Act information: http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/acvm/index.htm

• for APA information: http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/animalproducts/subject/petfood/index.htm.

I looked at the ACVM Act and it does not talk of pet food at all!

Under the ACVM Act, pet food is considered to be an Oral Nutritional Compound (ONC). This term is found in the ACVM Regulations 2001 but not in the Act. ONCs include all substances intended for oral administration to an animal to achieve a nutritional benefit. ONCs cover a broad range of products and pet food is just one subset. Another important subset is livestock feed.

The ACVM Regulations seem to talk of certain ONCs requiring registration. Can you tell me more about it?

As long as the pet food is marketed purely to provide nourishment to the animal it does not require registration. However, the pet food must comply with the requirements set out in Schedule 4 of the ACVM Regulations. Listed below are some of the requirements:

• the product must be fit for the purpose of feeding to the species, type, and class of animal

• the label must include (but is not limited to) the following information:

- trade name of the product

- list of ingredients

- directions for use.

Your pet food will require registration if:

• you market it with therapeutic or pharmacological claims, such as being able to treat arthritis, and/or

• it contains ingredients like glucosamine, chondroitin sulphate, green lipped mussel powder, carnitine and creatine exceeding defined levels (http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/acvm/registers-lists/register-nutrients.htm), and/or

• it contains ingredients that are not listed in the “Generally Recognised As Safe (GRAS)” list (http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/acvm/registers-lists/gras/onc.htm), and/or

• it contain any substances that are generally accepted to be therapeutic or pharmacological.

In case you are unsure if your product requires registration or not, we advise you to submit an application for Class Determination. Details about this discretionary service can be found at: http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/acvm/publications/forms/cd-request-form.htm. Please note there is a fee for this service (http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/acvm/publications/fees/other-fees.htm).

Where can I find more information about Oral Nutritional Compounds?

You will find comprehensive information on ONCs at: http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/acvm/publications/other-standards/onc-standard.pdf

What else should I know about pet food manufacturing regulatory requirements?

NZFSA is currently implementing the outcomes of the Animal Feeds Review. Information relating to this is available at http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/animalproducts/subject/petfood/index.htm.

There is also a proposal for pet food manufactures to meet minimum specified manufacturing requirements under the ACVM Act. These are currently in the process of being developed. Details are available at: http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/consultation/acvm-act/page-02.htm#TopOfPage.

Do you have guidance material on the levels of nutrients pet food must contain?

No, we don’t. The onus is on you to research the appropriate levels of nutrients pet food must contain to be fit for purpose.

Do you have guidance material on how to manufacture pet food?

Under the Animal Products Act there is a Pet Food Code of Practice, which is currently under review. This is available at http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/animalproducts/publications/code-of-practice/petfood/index.htm and is intended to provide one way of achieving the legislative requirements under the APA.

Minimum manufacturing requirements to comply with the ACVM Act are being developed and will be available on the web site when completed. These are not proposed to be detailed but will outline the general principles relating to consistent and controlled manufacture.

How can I keep myself up to date with pet food manufacturing regulatory changes?

Sign up on the NZFSA website (http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/site/notify/index.htm) for email notifications.

If I need more information, who should I contact?

You may phone NZFSA on 04 894 2500, or email your questions to: nzfsa.info@nzfsa.govt.nz.