May 28, 2008

New Zealand meat processor backs traceability scheme
 

New Zealand meat exporter PPCS is backing the government's plans to inject NZ$10.1 million to set up the National Animal Identification and Tracing initiative (NAIT) and a further NZ$13.2 million over the next five years which equates to 35 per cent of the NAIT forecast operational costs.

The NAIT scheme, announced by Agriculture Minister Jim Anderton on Thursday (May 22, 2008), is aimed at ensuring all livestock produced in New Zealand would be tagged as part of a database providing lifetime traceability of animals.

Keith Cooper, PPCS chief executive, said the NAIT investment was very positive news for the industry, and PPCS had fully endorsed the initiative.

"Our markets are acutely aware of issues around food safety and animal welfare, and we have been working on ways to implement effective traceability measures for some time in response to customer demands," Cooper said.

Cooper said the adoption of a New Zealand-wide programme would ensure that New Zealand, in the event of an incident, would be in a position to safeguard its reputation across the board.

Owned by about 9,000 farmer suppliers, PPCS is a large New Zealand meat-marketing company, exporting mutton, beef, venison and associated products to about 60 countries with a turnover of NZ$2 billion. The company has 26 processing facilities throughout New Zealand and has offices and marketing staff in the US, the EU, Asia and the Middle East.

NZ$1 = US$0.78 (May 28, 2008)