Red tape reduced for artisan cheesemakers

WELLINGTON: Artisan cheesemakers will no longer have to work under burdensome food safety regulations after the Government announced a new and easier way to meet food standards.

Food Safety Minister Damien O’Connor launched the Food Safety Template for Cheesemakers at The Great Eketahuna Cheese Festival yesterday.

‘‘The Food Safety Template for Cheesemakers, developed for the first time in partnership with artisan cheesemakers, pulls together regulatory requirements, making it easier and cheaper to meet important food safety standards,’’ Mr O’Connor said.

Cheese producers are required under the Food Act and the Animal Products Act to have a written plan to manage daytoday food safety risks.

‘‘This has become burdensome and costly for cheesemakers, who build plans from scratch and have them verified under two laws,’’ he said.

Eketahuna cheesemaker Biddy FraserDavies has pushed to make the red tape easier, and cheaper.

In 2016, she took her awardwinning Cwmglyn Farmhouse Cheese wares to Parliament’s primary production committee for a taste test, as she delivered her message that small producers were pushed to the brink by regulations and the cost of compliance and testing.

She recommended that lowproduction raw milk cheesemakers who made safer versions of cheeses should be allowed to operate with reduced testing.