December 22, 2010

 

New Zealand to relax health standard for grain imports

 

 

New Zealand's Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry wants to loosen health standards at the border to allow importers of food grains to bring in shipments contaminated with other grains or seeds.

 

"Some overseas suppliers are no longer interested in supplying New Zealand with food grains due to our unspecified and unrealistic demands for purity," biosecurity staff at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) said.

 

Existing import standards for grains are similar to New Zealand's "zero tolerance" approach to contamination by genetically engineered seeds – any contamination has to be removed, or the seeds treated so that they cannot grow.

 

But biosecurity officials now want to add a "tolerance level" for contaminant seeds to the standards for import of grains and seeds, and import of stored plant products for human consumption.

 

MAF said some importers of single ingredient food grains for processing, repacking or direct sale to the consumer were incurring "significant" losses of product, time, and monetary value because their imports were handled by equipment used for many different lines of food grains.

 

The present standard did not tolerate contaminant grains or seeds in imported food grains and requires action to prevent harmful pests and diseases entering the country.

 

Consignments of soy, beans, chickpeas, lentils and sunflower seeds were either sterilised with heat treatment or irradiation, or imported through a MAF-approved system. They could also be imported with biosecurity clearance at the border.

 

At low levels of contamination, such as five seeds in a five-kg sample, the seeds had to be removed from the shipment, or the consignment had to be sent for heat treatment – which could make some seeds such as chickpeas harder to cook. Other options were for the shipment to be re-exported or destroyed.

 

Some trading partners, such as Australia, USA, and Canada, tolerate a contamination rate of between 0.1% and 0.5% of other seeds and plant material.

 

Most grains imported into New Zealand for use as food would be consumed, and any contaminant seeds would be rendered as not viable.

 

But some imported grains or seeds which were given biosecurity clearance at the border could pose a risk as their end use was not confirmed beyond the border. "There is a very low likelihood that seeds could be deliberately planted in domestic gardens or commercial plantations, or be discarded into compost or domestic waste, where they germinate in domestic gardens or landfills," MAF said in its proposal for changes.

 

For consignments requiring biosecurity clearance on arrival, MAF sought a tolerance level for contaminant seeds of 0.1% in weight, as long as the seeds are not new or prohibited weeds. Heat-treated seed shipments or those processed at a MAF-approved transitional facility would list contaminant seeds, but need no further action.

 

The proposals are open for submissions from interested parties until January 31.