China’s audits trigger nervousness
EXPORTS: Video audits on apple operations have just been completed, reports Andrea Fox.
Around of new Chinese food safety audits, which have spooked New Zealand's primary export sectors, have been completed on apple exporters, with formal findings expected within a few weeks.
The video, or live, audits on processing operations have already resulted in some seafood exports being halted by Chinese officials. The February suspensions of some Sanford and Sealord products are still unresolved.
The Meat Industry Association which represents companies in the $9 billion export meat industry has expressed “nervousness” about the audits amid uncertainty over China's rules and requirements.
The Ministry for Primary Industries, which is handling the seafood suspension issue with Chinese officials, alerted the meat and dairy export sectors to the audits earlier this year.
Ministry director market access Steve Ainsworth said six apple export operations were audited — a mix of orchards and packhouses in the Hawke's Bay and Tasman regions.
“We expect to receive the formal findings from the audit within the next month.”
The export apple and pear sector earned just over $900 million last year. China is its third biggest market.
MPI has played down the audits, with Ainsworth saying “they're part of the normal interactions between the regulators of different countries and include providing assurances the systems used to produce and export food products are robust”.
But sectors are on edge.
“There's a lot of nervousness,” Meat Industry Association (MIA) chief executive Sirma Karapeeva said. “The structure of the audits is quite different to what we are used to and it's caused a lot of nervousness. We are all looking at what is going on with the seafood exports, and now apples.”
A major primary sector participant who spoke on condition of anonymity said all primary industry companies with approvals to export to China were “nervous”.
“These [audits] could mark a change of direction, higher standards etc and there's little advance clarity what China expects ... you could be delisted for not meeting a standard that you didn't know existed.”
“There are lots of inconsistent messages from Chinese customers, different port authorities, regulators of what's required. Dairy, meat, seafood, horticulture are all in the same basket.”
Exports from the two major New Zealand seafood companies were suspended by China due to what MPI called “issues around the interpretation of the World Health Organisation's Covid guidance and food safety management”.
The facilities are a Sanford company site in Havelock that processes mussels and a Sealord site in Nelson that processes finfish and fishmeal for animal feeds.
MPI's heavily redacted Official Information Act response suggests the issue boils down to China wanting Kiwi exporters to practise China's domestic Covid measures — regardless of New Zealand's Covid status.
New Zealand and China in January upgraded their free-trade agreement for at least another 10 years.
The structure of the audits is quite different to what we are used to and it's caused a lot of nervousness.
— Sirma Karapeeva, MIA