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NZFSA Exporter Updates

Issues to assist certification

November 2007

Changes to staff

Our Senior Advisor (Operations) Graeme McKenzie has now transferred to NZFSA Wellington. Kym Harper is now the new Senior Advisor (Operations), so for all previous situations where you would contact Graeme, you can now contact Kym at kym.harper@nzfsa.govt.nz or 09 909 6209

Reminder to all exporters – an NZFSA registered risk management programme is required for dairy material and dairy products to be eligible for export

The Animal Products Act 1999 (APA) requires all animal products that are traded to be “fit for intended purpose”. The main way of achieving this is through a Risk Management Programme (RMP). An RMP is a documented programme that identifies and manages hazards and other risk factors.

RMPs may be developed from scratch by businesses, or may be based on NZFSA-approved codes of practice, templates or models (where available). The RMP must cover the animal materials and products used, the processes performed, and the product range produced.

People/operations that need a dairy RMP:

• All farm dairy operators

• All operators in the chain from the farm to the point of export, including dairy manufacturers, stores and transporters unless exempt under section 9 of the APA, (e.g. operating under a Food Safety Programme (New Zealand and Australian markets only))

• Processors of dairy material or product intended for animal consumption that will be exported

• Processors of technical grade products (E.G: pharmaceuticals) if they also make dairy material or product for human or animal consumption requiring an RMP, or if the product is for export.

• All new dairy processors who are required to operate under a registered RMP must have it registered before they begin any operations.

People/operations that do NOT need a dairy RMP:

• Processors of dairy material or product for the domestic market or Australia only, and who are operating under an approved Food Safety Programme (FSP)

• Processors of dairy products for animal consumption for the domestic market, if no other operations at the same premises require an RMP

• Processors of technical grade dairy material or product, if no other operations at the same premises require an RMP.

Exporters should use this link to verify that all the operators they are sourcing product from have an approved RMP: http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/dairy/registers-lists/psp.htm

For more information on what a dairy RMP is and who needs one use this link: http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/dairy/publications/information-pamphlets/dairy-rmp/index.htm

For information on RMP templates for farm dairies and transport of dairy material and dairy products use this link: http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/dairy/publications/cop/index.htm

Not sure if you need an RMP or want to progress your RMP application? Contact Glen Bradbury at 04 894 2453 or via email at: glen.bradbury@nzfsa.govt.nz.

Dairy Quotas

Regulations under way for dairy export quota

The Dairy Industry Restructuring Amendment Bill No.2 provides for the future allocation of rights to designated dairy export markets (as explained in the August issue). This Bill provides for the transfer of export licences between industry participants and consultation has now been sought on the processes around the transfer of export licences. Submissions on the Dairy Industry Restructuring (Transfer of Export Licences) Regulations 2007 closed on October 22 and these are now being analysed.

Some of the key points included in these regulations were that:

• any person who holds an export licence under the Act may transfer all or part of that licence to another eligible person

• a transferor and a transferee must apply to register the transfer of an export licence

• the transfer of all or part of an export licence may be registered at any time during a quota year, but not during the last 15 days of the quota year

• the chief executive may refuse to register a person as an export licence holder or may remove a person from the register under some circumstances.

NZFSA workshop on quota requirements

A workshop was held at NZFSA on 26 October to discuss and explain the dairy quota assurance programme with the dairy industry. The workshop was well attended by representatives from key stakeholders. The workshop provided information on upcoming regulatory and system changes for dairy quota exports. It was also to help ensure dairy exporters would be able to plan around the proposed implementation timeframe.

The new regime requires a process for allocating, registering and transferring all dairy quota licenses, which means changes to the current Inward Monitoring Arrangement (IMA) certification system. This system was not designed for multiple exporters and non-EU quota markets. A new Quota Management System is being developed to cope with these.

The new Quota Management System is expected to be up and running by March 2008. Training will be offered during its development phase, from late December 2007 through January 2008. Interested exporters should contact Kym Harper at the Auckland Certification Unit on 09 909 6209 or email kym.harper@nzfsa.govt.nz.

Current and proposed certification systems

IMA Certificate System	Quota Management System
EU butter and two cheese quotas	All dairy quotas
One licensed quota exporter	Many exporters
No register of quota licence holders	Register of all quota license holders
Many importers	Many importers
IMA certificates required to obtain a quota import license	IMA certificates for EU quotas
Reconciliation of quota volumes	Reconciliation of all quota volumes
	Management of out of quota exports in some markets
Reporting	Reporting