New Zealand’s auditor-general John Ryan has urged the Ministry for Primary Industries to strengthen its monitoring of food importers, especially when it comes to higher-risk food products.
The Ministry for Primary Industries is responsible for monitoring whether importers comply with the Food Act, which makes sure that the food brought into the country is safe.
In a recent report, the auditor-general examined the ministry’s work regarding a group of foods that present a greater risk to consumers, such as frozen berries and tahini. Some of them have been associated with food recalls and outbreaks of foodborne illness in the country.
“In my view, the ministry does not have a clear understanding of the effectiveness of the food import system,” said Ryan.
“This is because the ministry has not been consistently monitoring whether importers are assessing the safety and suitability of specified high-risk foods before they arrive in the country.
The ministry does not collect all the necessary information to assess the effectiveness of the requirements for importing food, he added.
Despite the improvements that were already made, Ryan said more are needed to respond to changing food trends and risks.
“The risks from some imported foods are being managed reactively. This means that, in some cases, action is only taken after people have fallen ill,” he elaborated.
He also requested the ministry to do more with the existing information to build a better understanding of importers’ compliance with food import requirements.
