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Homekill and Recreational Catch Service Providers

These are people providing slaughter and butchering services for homekill and recreational catch. Homekill and recreational catch service providers are outside the risk management system. They cannot trade in animal product that is for human or animal consumption unless a dual operator butcher.

There are no implied Government assurances for their services. All animal owners who use homekill and recreational catch service providers are accepting any and all risks involved.

The basic policy for homekill and recreational catch service providers is set out in section 69 of the Animal Products Act.

• Homekill and recreational catch service providers must be listed with NZFSA.
• Where a game estate provides a 'butchering' service for meat, then they need to be a listed homekill and recreational catch service provider with NZFSA.
• Homekill and recreational catch service providers include persons who are in the business of providing catchers and members of the catcher's party with a meal prepared from their catch, this includes meals provided on game estates.
• Only animal owners who are actively engaged in the day-to-day maintenance of the animal or hunters or fishermen may use homekill and recreational catch service providers to kill and/or process their animals. Being actively involved in the day-to-day maintenance of an animal is demonstrated by:

• Homekill and recreational catch service providers do not have to have risk management programmes or meet any animal product standards. The only requirement is to keep basic inventory information.

For clarity, taxidermists are not homekill and recreational catch service providers.

The Animal Products (Exemptions and Inclusions) Order 2000, clause 18 states that a person who transports homekill or recreational catch is exempt from the requirement to be listed as a homekill or recreational catch service provider, if that is the only service the person provides in relation to homekill or recreational catch.

If the business is a dual operator butcher then the dual operator butcher must meet the requirements of section 71 — 'Requirements for dual operator butchers' including the requirement to operate under a risk management program me that meets the specified matters under section 71(1)(d).

What is required for listing as a service provider?

All homekill and recreational catch service providers must be listed with NZFSA. There are no criteria that need to be met. The listing is important for Government to meet its responsibilities in regard to health (including compliance and enforcement), so NZFSA has contact information for trace-back if there is a serious disease outbreak. Another benefit is that it enables the public to know who are providing slaughter and butchering services for homekill and recreational catch.

To ensure that the list is maintained up-to-date, listing will be for a year. It is the homekill and recreational catch service providers responsibility to renew their listing annually (See section 77). A fee is payable for listing, to cover the administration of the data system. It is an offence to provide a homekill and recreational catch service, for reward, when not listed.

What is the record keeping requirement for service providers?

The records must demonstrate that the animal material is accounted for and provide sufficient information for an animal product officer to be able to ascertain:

• the approximate amount/type/quantity and origin of the animal material received;
• the types of animal material/product returned to the animal owner or hunter; and
• what has happened to the non-edible parts of the animal, such as the hide, that the Act permits to be traded.

Records should include the following information as appropriate to the service provided:

• the date of service;
• the name, address and phone number of the animal owner;
• the animal species, sex and approximate age;
• any distinguishing marks, e.g. eartag number, brand, earmark (for cattle and deer only, the herd identification and individual animal number must be recorded);
• whether or not the hide was taken; and
• a list of the animal parts/products returned to the animal owner.

Additionally, records also need to demonstrate that the slaughterer either knows, or has taken reasonable steps to confirm, that the person for whom the slaughter was carried out was an animal owner who was involved in the day-to-day maintenance of that animal.

Where a service provider slaughters on the animal owner's property and then delivers the carcass to a second service provider for further processing and return to the animal owner, the records of the slaughterer must identify the second service provider and the date of supply.

Separate records must be kept of hides and skins received and sold by the service provider, the animal species involved, the dates of the transactions and the name of the purchaser of the hides and skins.

In the special case where a service provider processes an animal for humane reasons, e.g. after an accident, when that animal is neither on the animal owner's nor the service provider's property, the service provider must record the date, location, reason for slaughter, and distribution of the animal material.

Disclaimer:

This publication is not a legal interpretation of the Animal Products Act or the Animal Products (Ancillary and Transitional Provisions) Act and is intended only as a guide.