The Auditor-General has highlighted the need for the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) in New Zealand to enhance its surveillance of food importers. This comes in the wake of a report scrutinizing the ministry's oversight of high-risk food products, including tahini, frozen berries, fresh cheese, and fermented meat. The report underscores a significant health risk, with 39 Hepatitis A cases, half requiring hospitalization, linked to imported frozen berries between June 2022 and July 2023. Furthermore, 27 out of 60 consumer-level recalls in 2022 involved imported foods, indicating a gap in MPI's routine checks on food safety compliance among importers of high-risk foods.
Auditor-General John Ryan criticized MPI's grasp on the food import system's effectiveness, citing a lack of consistent monitoring and insufficient data collection on the safety and suitability of high-risk foods pre-arrival. Ryan advocates for MPI to adapt to the evolving food import market by identifying non-compliance proactively, enhancing importer compliance education, and regularly revising import requirements. While acknowledging MPI's ongoing improvements since 2021, the report calls for further action, including public consultation on proposed levies aimed at bolstering monitoring efforts.
Source: rnz.co.nz
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