FDA inspector normal

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted New Zealand’s food safety systems recognition as comparable in quality to that in the US.

It is the first such recognition of its kind granted by the US, and was formally put into writing at the Food Safety Systems Recognition Arrangement signing in Washington by officials from the FDA and New Zealand’s Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI).

“This is momentous for MPI as it is the first time the FDA has recognised another country’s food safety system as comparable to its own,” MPI’s deputy director general of standards Carol Barnao said in a statement.

“The arrangement with New Zealand is part of an overall strategy for strengthening the global food safety net through closer collaboration with regulators around the world, highlighted in FDA’s report Pathway to Global Product Safety and Quality,” added the FDA’s deputy commissioner for food Michael R Taylor.

The new agreement applies to all foods and animal feeds regulated by the FDA.

For horticulture the recognition is definitely a positive development, and theoretically mean there will be no future increases in the cost of food safety compliance to the US for New Zealand exporters.

“Recognition by the US FDA of New Zealand’s food safety systems across the various food sectors is very welcome. As an exporting nation we are very aware of the need to meet exacting food safety requirements of importing countries,” New Zealand Horticultural Export Authority CEO Simon Hegarty told Asiafruit.

“This recognition by the FDA should ensure we don’t incur anything additional to what US based operators have to comply with or that we don’t need to alter what we are currently doing. It ought to give New Zealand a theoretical advantage vis-à-vis other countries supplying produce to the US market.”

New Zealand horticultural exports to the US in the 12 months to June 2012 tallied up to NZ$110m, encompassing 54 products.

Apples and kiwifruit represented 40 per cent and 27 per cent of that figure respectively, said Hegarty.