Agreement has huge implications for manufactured food exports
An agreement between the New Zealand Government and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which recognises each
other’s food safety systems has huge implications for exporters of manufactured foods, says Food and Grocery CEO
Katherine Rich.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and the FDA have signed the Food Safety Systems Recognition Arrangement, which
recognises each other’s food safety systems as providing a comparable degree of food safety assurance. It covers all
foods and animal feeds regulated by the FDA, which equates to $1.5 billion of New Zealand’s current exports of primary
products.
New Zealand is the first country to sign such an agreement with the FDA.
“This agreement has the potential to be huge for New Zealand’s manufactured food exports,” Mrs Rich says.
“It means New Zealand exporters don’t have to meet a different set of standards before they can be accepted for import
into the US.
“Instead of our exports having to meet US requirements to deliver ‘safe food’, they can meet New Zealand standards
because the outcome of ‘safe food’ is the same as the US outcome.
“Basically, the FDA has recognised New Zealand’s food safety system as comparable to its own, and that is huge.
“It will lessen the potential regulatory burden for foods traded between the countries by removing unnecessary
duplication of activities, and that means big cost savings for our manufacturers. And it is likely to open the door for
more of our manufactured food exports because US importers now don’t have to think twice when considering buying our
goods.
“This agreement is part of an overall strategy for strengthening the global food safety net through closer collaboration
with regulators around the world, and anything that does that can be only good news for New Zealand’s food-exports-led
economy.
“MPI deserves praise for concluding the agreement, and it’s important to note the work of Andrew McKenzie, former CEO of
the NZ Food Safety Authority, who worked on securing it for almost a decade.”
ENDS