December 28, 2012

Fonterra welcomes agreement between New Zealand and US FDA

The signing of agreement between New Zealand and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that recognises their respective food safety systems provide comparable assurance was welcomed by Fonterra Co-operative Group.

The Food Safety Systems Recognition Arrangement was signed at a meeting in Washington DC by delegations from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and FDA. It follows a review of each country's relevant laws and regulations, inspection programmes, compliance, enforcement and accreditation systems and facilities such as cold stores.

Fonterra's Director Co-operative Affairs Todd Muller says the agreement is a very positive development. "The FDA has recognised the value of our food safety regulatory systems and essentially ranks it on a par with their own. The US is an important market for us, so an agreement which lessens potential regulatory burden for foods and reduces duplication of effort is very welcome. This agreement is a valuable development in the trade process with the US and we congratulate MPI on this achievement."

The agreement covers all foods and animal feeds regulated by the FDA, which equates to US$1.5 billion of New Zealand's current exports of primary products.