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Food Focus May 2006

E-cert: leading the way in paperless trade

Growing uptake around the world of NZFSA’s electronic certification system (E-cert) is resulting in some exciting developments

First launched in 1998 E-cert is the internet tool used by NZFSA to provide government-to-government assurances that the animal and dairy products an importing country receives from New Zealand meet their import requirements.

NZFSA’s E-cert Programme Manager Drasko Pavlovic’s role is to ensure that E-cert complies with the government-to-government assurance process, as well as with market access criteria.

At the moment there are different stages of development between E-cert for animal products and E-cert for dairy products. “Both applications provide the paper output as well (the export certificate produced as part of the certificate production process), but the animal product application allows interaction with border inspectors overseas,” explains Drasko.

Electronic data exchange

One of the biggest developments underway involves data exchange and messaging. The world is moving towards electronic exchange and E-cert is at the forefront of this exciting development for agricultural products.

“When data is submitted for certification it will populate relevant fields within the electronic certificate, and when the certificate is approved it will turn that data into an appropriate XML message that meets international data element standards.”

(An example of a data element is the identifiable name ‘export certificate’, and the definable values ‘document number’, ‘name of country’ and ‘departure date’.)

E-cert applications for animal products and dairy are compliant with the data element standard (the basic unit of identifiable and definable information), which NZFSA leads with the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service through the United Nations Committee for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT).

International standard

“Facilitating trade involves meeting the importing country requirements and we all have to comply with the United Nations data element standard if we want to have applications that are exchangeable internationally,” says Drasko.

CEFACT is moving towards publishing an international standard for government-to-government exchange of electronic messaging relevant to the trade of agricultural goods.

“XML is an advanced, simple and internationally recognized message format and we’re defining a standard for elements in an XML message, so that the sender and receiver know what they are talking about,” explains Drasko.

Importing governments can now view online the New Zealand data on animal products and Drasko hopes the same will be available for dairy by mid-2007.

Global take-up

Since E-cert was introduced many countries have adopted it with the aim of verifying certificates electronically and dispensing with paper export certificates entirely. The intention is that an electronic message will replace the original paper document completely.

“We have run a successful exchange with Canada for more than four years now and they use the electronic data to clear consignments. For legal purposes we still provide the paper certificate, but we are discussing with them an option to remove the paper completely, so that by early next year hopefully we will be paperless.”

Jordan is completely paperless and Singapore is about to go that way around June this year.

The European Union (EU) is an important market for New Zealand and Drasko is also keen to get interaction between Ecert and TRACES, (the EU equivalent to E-cert but with import system capabilities), up and running. A paperless trial will also be underway there by June.

Reliable access

“E-cert is a very reliable system but we need to improve its availability. There are some supporting applications that are not as robust and we need to ensure that they continue to function and provide data when an unexpected event occurs,” says Drasko.

It’s also intended to make the dairy application available with a full fail-over model so that if the main server becomes unavailable, service can still continue.

Despite being introduced eight years ago E-cert remains the most advanced system of its kind. For animal products its internal verification tool makes it unique.

“You have traceability in real time and internal certification follows the product movements as they occur. When it comes to an export certificate the data is validated and ready immediately as opposed to other models where once they receive a request they have to look back for verification which takes much longer,” says Drasko.

“It is definitely the most advanced certification system I’ve seen. There is no system in the world virtually – not a single one – that is equivalent or can match in abilities to the E-cert system.”

NEWS IN BRIEF

Restaurant food safety template trialled

NZFSA is currently working with the Restaurant Association and the Hospitality Association to develop a template food safety management system that will help kitchen staff manage food safety. It also aims to minimize compliance costs for businesses and provide clarity to ensure consistent verification.

Eventually the template will be developed as an off-the-peg Food Control Plan as proposed under the Domestic Food Review reforms.

A pilot is being trialled in eight ACCOR Hotels. The results and outcomes from the public consultation on the proposed DFR reforms will be taken into account and used to modify the pilot ready for a larger, more representative trial later in the year.

Mike Orchard NZFSA Programme Manager (Food Service) says that it is “critical that NZFSA works closely with the food service sector to develop and trial such initiatives if we want to produce something that will be practical and effective”.

Under the DFR, it is proposed that commercial food businesses will require a Food Control Plan (FCP). Those food industry sectors that need help to develop an FCP will be able to use off-the-peg templates that can be downloaded from the NZFSA website (see pages 4 & 5 for more information).

Although the final outcomes of the DFR are as yet unknown, Mike says that the template development will result in a best-practice tool that will help food service businesses to manage food safely, regardless of the regulatory regime.

If you’d like to know more about the development of the template, email Mike at: mike.orchard@nzfsa.govt.nz.

Charges laid over endosulfan contamination

NZFSA laid 10 charges in March against the Northland farmer allegedly responsible for the recent contamination of meat with the pesticide endosulfan.

Geoff Allen, NZFSA Director (Compliance & Investigation) says he is pleased with the investigation that has led to the laying of the charges, and is confident of an outcome that reflects the severity of the case.

“New Zealand has a world-renowned reputation as a producer of safe food and the alleged actions of one farmer in applying a plant pesticide to animals could have been nationally catastrophic. For the meat processor affected, its staff and its law-abiding farmer suppliers, the local consequences were severe.”

The farmer has been charged with five charges under the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Act and five under the Animal Products Act.

Geoff Allen says that the only positives of the event were that it provided further proof that New Zealand’s systems allow for a speedy and full trace back, and that New Zealand’s active, transparent and cooperative approach is appreciated by our trading partners.

The case is expected to be heard in the Waitakere District Court later this month, and deferred to a later date.