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Re: Code of Practice for the Processing of Bee Products

Ref: M800-400

29 July 2005

Dear Bee Product Processors and all Interested Parties

Purpose and Scope

The attached code of practice has been developed by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority, in consultation with industry, to assist bee product operators meet the requirements of the Animal Products Act 1999 and produce edible bee products that are safe and suitable for their purpose. In particular, it provides guidance for meeting the requirements for the development, registration and implementation of risk management programmes (RMP).

This code of practice applies to businesses involved in the secondary processing of edible bee products which covers the extraction of honey; and the processing, packing and storage of honey, dried pollen and other edible bee products. Secondary processing starts from the point when raw material (e.g. honey supers, pollen, raw propolis) is received at the premises or facility where it will be processed (e.g. extracted, dried, heated) and packed. Secondary processing also covers the storage of any packed products, including the storage of bulk honey.

The code of practice is divided into five parts:

• Part 1: Overview

• Part 2: Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)

• Part 3: HACCP Application

• Part 4: Identification and Control of Risk Factors Related to Wholesomeness and Labelling

• Part 5: RMP Templates

Each part is published as a separate document. The pre-season and water checklists in Part 2, and the RMP templates in Part 5 are published as Word files to allow operators to readily use these forms.

RMPs will have to be submitted to the NZFSA for registration prior to 1 April 2006 in order to meet the 1 July 2006 deadline.

Exclusions

This code of practice does not apply to primary processing of bee products. Primary processing does not require an RMP.

Primary processing of bee products includes the following activities:

• beehive management including the rearing of queen bees for royal jelly production;

• collection of honey supers, temporary storage of supers prior to delivery to the extraction facility, and transport to the extraction facility;

• scraping or collection of raw propolis from boxes or mats, bagging and storage of raw propolis, and transport to an extraction facility; and

• collection of pollen, bagging, holding in a freezer by the beekeeper, and transport to a pollen drying/processing facility.

This code of practice has been developed based on New Zealand requirements only and does not cover overseas market access requirements. Exporters must ensure that they meet the overseas market access requirements relevant to their product and intended market.

Review and amendments

It is intended that this code of practice will be reviewed and amended, as necessary, after an initial implementation and verification period.

Yours sincerely,

Judy Barker
Assistant Director (Production & Processing)
New Zealand Standards
New Zealand Food Safety Authority