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Approval for the Code of Practice: Processing of Bee Products

I Tim Knox, Director (Animal Products), approve the Code of Practice: Processing of Bee Products (which includes the Risk Management Programme Template) dated July 2005 in its entirety, in accordance with section 12 (3A) of the Animal Products Act, for the purpose of making the determination that the Code of Practice: Processing of Bee Products is valid and appropriate for the businesses of the kind described in the Statement of Application.

Statement of Application

The application of the Code of Practice: Processing of Bee Products is limited to businesses of the kind that are bee product secondary processing businesses involved in the extraction, processing, packing or storing of bee products.

Without limiting the application, the following processes are covered:-

• Extraction, processing, packing and storage of honey

• Processing of dried pollen

Signed at Wellington this 23rd day of August 2005.

Tim Knox Director (Animal Products)
New Zealand Food Safety Authority
(Acting under delegated authority)

1. Background

1. Despite the general requirement that a risk management programme is tailored to the individual business concerned, section 12(3A) of the Animal Products Act (the Act) allows for a risk management programme for a particular business, or part of a business, to be based on a template, a model, or a code of practice, if in the view of the Director-General the template, model, or code of practice is valid and appropriate for businesses of that kind.

2. The NZFSA has published the Animal Products Act 1999 — Approval of Templates, Models, Codes of Practice Statement of Policy to clarify the application of section 12(3A) of the Act and provide the procedural arrangements for assessing and approving a template, model, or code of practice.

3. The NZFSA has developed a code of practice (which includes a risk management programme template) for bee product processing referred to as the ‘Code of Practice: Processing of Bee Products’. The version approved is dated July 2005.

2. Justification

1. The following aspects have been considered in making this approval:—

a. the Code of Practice: Processing of Bee Products incorporation of regulatory requirements that are applicable for the kind of businesses concerned;

b. the Code of Practice: Processing of Bee Products incorporation of Good Operating Practice, the application of HACCP principles and other RMP components that are appropriate for the kind of businesses concerned;

c. the Code of Practice: Processing of Bee Products appropriate identification of regulatory requirements distinct from strongly recommended practice distinct from helpful information, and as relevant, an indication of what this distinction means in terms of application to a business; and

d. the Code of Practice: Processing of Bee Products is practical and achievable for the kind of businesses concerned.

2. The Code of Practice: Processing of Bee Products meets criteria (a), (b) and (d). Of note, the Code of Practice: Processing of Bee Products was trialed by a number of processors of bee products. Feedback received from this trial and from other consultation processes, such as working group meetings with industry representatives and industry conferences, was incorporated into the Code of Practice: Processing of Bee Products.

3. In regard to the identification of regulatory requirements, recommended practice and guidance material, it is noted that the Code of Practice: Processing of Bee Products has clearly identified the regulatory requirements in each section or attachment, however allowances for specific businesses to tailor relevant parts of the Code of Practice: Processing of Bee Products to their particular operation are clearly identified and as such it is considered that the business application is clear.

3. Disclaimer

1. Considerable effort has been made to ensure that the information provided in the Code of Practice: Processing of Bee Products is accurate, up to date, and otherwise adequate in all respects. Nevertheless, this Code of Practice is approved STRICTLY on the basis that the Crown, the New Zealand Food Safety Authority, its statutory officers, employees, agents, and all other persons involved with the writing, editing, approval or publication of, or any other kind of work in connection with the Code of Practice: Processing of Bee Products:

a. disclaim any and all responsibility for any inaccuracy, error, omission, or any other kind of inadequacy, deficiency, or flaw in, or in relation to, the Code of Practice: Processing of Bee Products; and

b. without limiting a) above, fully exclude any and all liability of any kind, on the part of any and all of them, to any person or entity that applies the Code of Practice: Processing of Bee Products.