What will be the process and timing?

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Ministry for Primary Industries Food News, November 2015 - Page | 1

Welcome to MPI's new e-newsletter. We'll be using this new format for our monthly

communication with local councils from now on. Full stories for each topic in the newsletter are below.

If there is anyone else you think should be receiving these messages, just forward the email to them and they can sign up via links at the top of the newsletter.

Reminder: consultation closes soon

There’s just a few days left to give feedback on Notices under the Food Act 2014. This includes templates for food control plans, requirements for ensuring food is safe and suitable, requirements for importers, and details about who will evaluate and verify businesses under the Act. The food control plan templates have changed from previous versions in order to make sure they reflect the requirements of the Act.

Have your say before 6 November 2015

The role of TAs and national programme

businesses under the Food Act.

All TAs and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) will act as registration authorities for businesses operating under the Food Act 2014.

The Act specifies that TAs are exclusive verifiers of template food control plan businesses they register. TAs do not have to

apply for recognition or hold any accreditation to provide these verification services. This role will start with full commencement of the Act on 1 March 2016.

All other food businesses are subject to verification by a third party agency recognised under the Act. This may be an independent agency such as AsureQuality. It may also be a TA, but only if the TA chooses to provide this wider service and is recognised as a verifier for national programme and/or custom food control plan food businesses. TAs do not have automatic statutory recognition to provide these verification services, and must meet the same criteria as other third party providers.

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The criteria that needs to be met increases with the complexity of the food business being verified. ISO 17020 will only be required for those agencies and persons that verify custom food control plans - it will not be required for agencies and persons verifying national programmes.

Many TAs have expressed interest in being recognised as a verifier of businesses operating under a national programme. The criteria for recognition will be established in regulations that will be finalised by the end of this year, but will require a written quality management system that includes procedures for: managing conflicts of interest, staff training, ensuring adequate resourcing, dispute resolution, meeting reporting requirements, identification and reporting of non-compliances, identification and monitoring of corrective actions, records management, and review of the agency’s system and performance. These criteria reflect the good practice of most TAs currently.

Additional technical competencies, knowledge and experience may be required to be recognised to perform particular functions and activities. For example, specific

requirements are proposed in the draft Recognised Agencies and Persons notice currently being consulted on in order to verify and/or evaluate low acid canned food processing and aseptic/pasteurisation/hot fill treatment processing.

What will be the process and timing?

To verify national programme businesses and custom food control plans, third party agencies and TAs will need to submit an application form and fee to apply for

recognition. Details relating to the form and fee will be available on the MPI website in the New Year.

However, MPI is currently investigating ways that the recognition process could be simplified for TAs wishing to verify national programme businesses that they already register and inspect under the Food Hygiene Regulations, e.g. dairies. Further guidance will be provided once decisions have been made regarding what recognition to verify this type of national programme business might entail.

Most national programme businesses will not be required to transition until phase 2 (by 30 June 2018) or phase 3 (by 28 February 2019) so there will be time for TAs to work through the recognition process.

Further information

Further guidance is expected to be available in December. In the meantime MPI officials welcome any concerns you might have and are happy to talk through the issues. In the first instance contact LGL@mpi.govt.nz.

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Sharing MPI document templates

MPI is currently developing document templates for registration of food control plans and businesses under national

programmes. These templates will include a range of documents, such as registration certificates, cancellation letters, and renewal reminders.

Once the documents have been formally approved by our legal and policy departments, MPI will share them with TAs to help you meet your legal obligations under the Food Act 2014, or for you to base your own documentation on. However, if you have already started developing your own document templates, you are under no obligation to use the ones provided by MPI.

We expect to provide you with drafts of the documents in December 2015. Some examples are included at the end of this newsletter. These are draft MPI registration certificates for an FCP. MPI has set up two certificate templates to enable registration of multi-site businesses (see further detail below). When an FCP is registered, we will issue one certificate for the head office and another for the site where the food is handled. Single premises businesses will be issued both.

Note: these drafts are subject to Legal/Policy sign-off, and may yet change. Please do not incorporate these certificates into your systems yet; they have only been provided for context.

Multi-Site Registrations

The Food Act 2014 allows for businesses to apply for their FCP or NP registration to cover multiple locations within a TA. For example, if an operator runs two cafés in Wellington, they can register both café locations under one FCP registration. The same applies to registration under a national programme.

If an operator has locations in different TA regions throughout New Zealand, they can either register each location individually with the local TA, or all sites under one registration with MPI.

MPI food safety: new phone number

MPI is undergoing changes to its 0800 numbers, including the food safety helpline. For food safety enquiries, people should call MPI on 0800 008 333. If you have printed material with MPI’s food safety helpline on it, don’t worry, the old one will be in use for a while. However, please use the new one from now on!

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Email alerts

MPI is working on resources and information that will help businesses understand and transition to the new Food Act. If businesses want to stay up to date, they can sign up for Food Act 2014 alerts on the MPI website.

Where do I fit?

Last month, the Where do I fit? tool was one of the most popular pages on the MPI website. If you would like any more postcards to promote the tool, just email Naomi:

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NOTICE OF REGISTRATION

Food Control Plan

Pursuant to section 59 of the Food Act 2014, the Chief Executive has registered a Food Control Plan in respect of the following operator:

RBM Legal Name

trading as <optional>

RBM Trading Name

This registration has been assigned the identifier:

ID

This registration expires on dd/mm/yyyy

The Food Control Plan applies to the following scope of operations at <number> site(s):

<electronic signature> Name

Title

(Acting under delegated authority) dd/mm/yyyy

Raw Meat Edible Casings Processed Meat

Vegetable protein products

Product Type Sector

Manufacturers of meat, poultry, or fish products

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NOTICE OF REGISTRATION

Food Control Plan

Pursuant to section 59 of the Food Act 2014, the Chief Executive has registered a Food Control Plan in respect of the following operator:

RBM Legal Name

This Food Control Plan applies to the following business:

Site Legal Name

trading as <optional>

Site Trading Name

located at

Site Physical Location

Vehicle registration number(s): xxx <optional>

This business has been assigned the site identifier:

ID/Site registration number