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Proposed amendments to the requirements of the MPI Standard: Places of First Arrival

Update – 7 December 2022

MPI Standard: Places of First Arrival (PoFA.ALL) has been issued.

Following the consultation that closed 5 September 2022, MPI has released the final Places of First Arrival Standard along with the response to submissions document.

MPI Standard: Places of First Arrival (POFA.ALL) [PDF, 297 KB]

Response to submissions document [PDF, 446 KB]

Background to this consultation

From 13 July to 5 September 2022 the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) sought your feedback on proposed changes to the MPI Standard: Places of First Arrival.

The key proposed changes included:

  • New requirements are mainly a clarification of what is already required.
  • Inclusion of some critical guidance from a previous guidance document as requirements, such as physical and structural requirements for places of first arrival (PoFA).
  • The Standard has been drafted to be more fit for purpose and has some flexibility for operational and individual PoFA needs, while appropriately managing biosecurity risks of each PoFA.
  • Stronger operator requirements and descriptors of what the operator delegate’s role is.
  • Clarification of specialised requirements like biosecurity control areas, transitional facilities, or systems to allow for approvals of receiving higher risk craft or goods.
  • Clarification on PoFA approvals and variations.
  • Operating manual requirements (formerly documentation requirements).
  • Clarification of the requirements for arrangements with facilities, systems, contracts, and service providers carrying out biosecurity related work.
  • Inclusion of a systems section.
  • Update of PoFA certificate in Schedule 2.
  • Addition of Schedule 3 with updated craft and risk good categories.

Full details of the proposed changes are in the consultation documents.

Consultation documents

Draft Standard – Places of First Arrival [PDF, 491 KB]

Risk Management Proposal – Amendments to the Places of First Arrival Standard [PDF, 526 KB]

 

Find out more

Find out more about places of first arrival in New Zealand

Legal requirements

The New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) must consult with interested parties in accordance with section 37(10)(b) of the Biosecurity Act 1993 (the Act) and MPI’s consultation policy before issuing or amending facility standards under section 37 of the Act.

The Place of First Arrival standard sets out the requirements in relation to the operation of arrangements, facilities, and systems at a port to be approved as a place of first arrival.

Submissions are public information

Note that all, part, or a summary of your submission may be published on this website. Most often this happens when we issue a document that reviews the submissions received. Any submission you make becomes public information. Anyone can ask for copies of all submissions under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). The OIA says we must make the information available, unless we have a good reason for withholding it. You can find those grounds in sections 6 and 9 of the OIA. Tell us if you think there are grounds to withhold specific information in your submission. Reasons might include, it's commercially sensitive or it's personal information. However, any decision MPI makes to withhold information can be reviewed by the Ombudsman, who may require the information be released.

Official Information Act 1982 – NZ Legislation