New electronic export certification now live
An electronic certification system that has been years in development is now operating for animal product exports, Food
Safety Minister Nikki Kaye says.
The new certification system, launched in the last few weeks, replaces an older system that was approaching the end of
its life and becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. It currently applies to meat and seafood products, with
certification of dairy products scheduled from September 1.
The system offers importing countries additional security and anti-fraud features for dairy exports, which is important
in protecting the reputation of New Zealand’s official assurances, Ms Kaye says.
“The export landscape is changing and New Zealand’s systems need to be able to deal with the shifting environment. This
new system will help with that.
“The Ministry for Primary Industries is closely monitoring and supporting it to ensure that any issues are dealt with
quickly and efficiently. It assures me that the new system is running well so far, and is continuing to work with
industry and major trading partners to build on that good start.”
The government engaged extensively with exporters and the wider industry in the development of the new system, including
through a long-standing industry steering group to ensure any changes would work in practice, Ms Kaye says. As part of
its commitment to better public services, MPI put particular effort into ensuring the new system was easier to use and
an improvement for companies trying to manage their export certification.
“Officials notified all markets of the change to the technology behind our export certification and stand ready to
support clearance of product if necessary,” Ms Kaye says.
Work is progressing to transition the dairy industry to the new system. MPI held demonstration workshops last month in
Christchurch, Palmerston North, Hamilton and Auckland.
ends