Category: New Zealand Government – Business

Source: Ministry for Primary Industries

Signing up to food recall alerts can help protect you and your family safe from unsafe food and prepare for the unexpected as World Food Safety day approaches, says New Zealand Food Safety deputy director-general Vincent Arbuckle.

“The vast majority of the food we buy is safe to eat, but things can occasionally go wrong. Food recalls provide an important last line of defence for our food safety system.

“While recalls remove affected product from supermarket shelves, consumers need to know if they have affected products in their cupboards at home.

“Anyone can benefit from subscribing to our food recall alert emails through our website, but for some communities it can be even more important.

“Eating food containing harmful pathogens can have serious consequences for people with weakened immune systems, pregnant people, older people, and the very young. For these communities, having the latest information about potentially unsafe food can be the difference between getting very sick and staying well.

“Equally, mislabelled allergens remain the single most common reason for food recalls, so people with allergies can really benefit from prompt and accurate information.”

Find out more about food recalls and sign up for our alerts

See our full list of recalled products

Read our recently published food recalls annual reports

For further information and general enquiries, call MPI on 0800 00 83 33 or email info@mpi.govt.nz

For media enquiries, contact the media team on 029 894 0328.

Source: Ministry for Primary Industries

About this consultation

This consultation covers the next round of proposed changes to the Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) for Agricultural Compounds Food Notice. The notice:

• establishes MRLs for agricultural chemicals and veterinary medicines (Schedule 1) to manage residues that may occur in food in New Zealand
• lists agricultural chemicals (Schedule 2) for which no MRL applies
• lists veterinary medicines (Schedule 3) for which no MRL applies.

Have your say

We want your feedback on:

• 5 proposals for new or amended maximum residue levels in Schedule 1
• one proposal for a new entry in Schedule 3.

Full details are in the consultation document. Submissions close at 5pm on 30 July 2024.

Consultation document

Proposals to amend the Maximum Residue Levels for Agricultural Compounds Food Notice [PDF, 365 KB]

Related document

WTO notification – NZL 769 – SPS notification -Proposals to Amend the Maximum Residue Levels [PDF, 207 KB]

Background information about MRLs

Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) are the maximum legal levels for residues of agricultural chemicals and veterinary medicines in food for sale in New Zealand. As new products and uses are registered, new entries for MRLs and compounds for which no MRL applies are established, and existing entries are adjusted as needed. The MRLs are set to ensure that residue levels remain as low as practicable without compromising the ability for the chemical to successfully do what is intended.  

The food notice and its entries are established for agricultural compounds to support Good Agricultural Practice in New Zealand while ensuring risks associated with food safety are effectively managed. MRLs may also be proposed to support the importation of food into New Zealand.

Making a submission

Email your feedback on the consultation document by 5pm on 30 July 2024 to MaximumResidueLevels@mpi.govt.nz

Answer the following questions for any of the compounds for which changes to the notice are being proposed.

• On balance, do you oppose any of the details of the proposals, such as setting a MRL for a particular commodity or species?
• Do you oppose an MRL entry being established at all for this compound or for a commodity? If so, why do you oppose it?
• If an MRL is to be set for this compound for the commodity, do you disagree with the levels or conditions proposed? If so, why do you disagree?

Make sure you include in your submission:

• the title of the consultation document in the subject line of your email
• your name and title (if applicable)
• your organisation’s name (if applicable)
• your address
• the answers to the questions posed above for each compound you are commenting on.

While we prefer email, you can send your submission by post to:

MRL Amendments
New Zealand Food Safety
Ministry for Primary Industries
PO Box 2526
Wellington 6140
New Zealand.

Source: Ministry for Primary Industries

New Zealand Food Safety today removed the public health warning against collecting shellfish from the Inner Queen Charlotte Sound.

The area included from Anakiwa to West Head and Deiffenbach Point.

Further sampling of shellfish in the area has shown that PSP toxins are now at safe levels.

New Zealand Food Safety today also removed the public health warning against collecting shellfish Waiheke Island – Blackpool and Surfdale Beaches. Latest investigations have found that all evidence of the presence of the Cyanobacteria bloom has disappeared and shellfish are now safe to gather and consume.

Find out more

See signage in the affected area.

Shellfish biotoxin alerts

Subscribe to shellfish biotoxins to receive email alerts

Collecting shellfish and keeping them safe [PDF, 1.4 MB]

Causes and symptoms of toxic shellfish poisoning

About toxic algal blooms

Food safety for seafood gatherers booklet [PDF, 1.2 MB]

Source: Ministry for Primary Industries

A Taranaki dairy farmer has been placed on 4 months home detention and disqualified from being in charge of animals for 18 months over a lack of feed and welfare which led to some animals being euthanised.

Ray Ernest Nairn (56) was sentenced in the New Plymouth District Court yesterday (21/5/24) after pleading guilty to 8 charges under the Animal Welfare Act, following a successful prosecution by the Ministry for Primary Industries.

“Mr Nairn is an experienced farmer. He knew what his welfare responsibilities to his animals were and he failed them. Some of these animals were sick, emaciated and in such poor condition, the only option was to euthanise them. When we find evidence of deliberate animal neglect, we will take action and put the case before the court,” says MPI regional manager, animal welfare and NAIT compliance, Joanna Tuckwell.

In November 2021, an MPI animal welfare inspector and veterinarian inspected Mr Nairn’s 230 cattle following a complaint about their physical condition. They found some animals were severely underweight and in poor health because of a lack of grass cover and supplementary feed.

Several animals had to be euthanised including a heavily pregnant and emaciated Friesian cow. Another cow that was suffering from a longstanding mastitis infection was also euthanised. The veterinarian noted Mr Nairn had continued to milk this cow twice daily, despite it having an open and discharging wound. Seven other underweight dairy cows were found to be receiving insufficient feed to maintain milk production without further weight loss occurring. Furthermore, a severely lame cow was sent to a meat processing plant following treatment.

During the inspection, MPI animal welfare inspectors directed Mr Nairn to dry off some cows to enable the animals to recover to a healthy weight and prevent further suffering. Animal welfare inspectors returned to the farm a month later to check Mr Nairn was following the directions and found there were 2 cows that had not been dried off.

“Mr Nairn was directed to stop milking these cows, which he didn’t do, causing further suffering. Most farmers do right thing for their animals – providing sufficient and quality feed and timely veterinarian treatment. It’s disappointing that we had to again direct Mr Nairn to stop milking these cows for the sake of their welfare,” Joanna Tuckwell says.

Along with the home detention and disqualification sentence, a special condition imposed by the court was that Mr Nairn must undertake treatment and counselling as directed by the Department of Corrections. He was also ordered to pay $4,597.13 in veterinarian costs.

Animal welfare is everyone’s responsibility and MPI strongly encourages any member of the public who is aware of animal ill-treatment or cruelty to report it to the MPI animal welfare complaints freephone 0800 00 83 33.

For further information and general enquiries, call MPI on 0800 00 83 33 or email info@mpi.govt.nz

For media enquiries, contact the media team on 029 894 0328

Source: Ministry for Primary Industries

A Blenheim based winemaker who smuggled Australian vines into New Zealand and planted them has been placed on 5 months community detention and fined $15,000.

James Garry Millton (67) was sentenced today on 2 charges under the Biosecurity Act that he pleaded guilty to in the Blenheim District Court, following a successful prosecution by the Ministry for Primary Industry (MPI).

In June 2019, Mr Millton took 2 cuttings from a Savagnin grapevine at a vineyard he was visiting in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia. The variety was not present in New Zealand, and he wanted to cultivate it at his vineyard.

“Our biosecurity is multi-layered with checks and balances that stretch from the importing country, through the border, and into the supply chain within New Zealand,” said MPI’s director of investigations Gary Orr.

“The vines have since been destroyed and testing showed there was no exotic pathogens found, but Mr Milton was not to know that. 

“By breaking the rules in place to protect New Zealand from new pests and diseases he took an unacceptable risk. If there were pathogens present it could damage the industry and the opportunities and export dollars it brings into the country.”

Mr Milton submitted false information upon arrival and failed to declare the grapevine cuttings when arriving at Auckland International Airport.

“He lied when filling out a Passenger Arrival Card during his flight home and a biosecurity declaration that that he was not bringing in any plant or plant products. He knew this was false because he had the vines wrapped in plastic in his suitcase,” says Gary Orr.

Further investigation found that in 2020, Mr Millton had planted and grown the vines in a garden near his house in Gisborne. In 2021, he asked a nursery to graft him 134 cuttings, falsely telling the nursery that they were Chenin Blanc grapevine cuttings that he planted in the Millton Vineyard.

In 2023, Mr Millton also arranged for some cuttings of the illegal vines to be sent to him in Blenheim where he approached a nursery about grafting the cuttings, which it refused to do after making inquiries about the origins of the vines.

“By his own admission he knew what the requirements were for importing grapevine cuttings into New Zealand. The rules are there for a reason. When we find evidence of deliberate biosecurity risk – we will take action and in this case, place the matter before the court,” says Gary Orr.

More information on biosecurity in New Zealand can be found here:

Biosecurity New Zealand

For further information and general enquiries, call MPI on 0800 008 333 or email info@mpi.govt.nz

For media enquiries, contact the media team on 029 894 0328