Find out about the food safety requirements you need to meet if you grow, harvest, process, store, or sell fish and seafood in New Zealand.
On 1 July 2022, a new set of redesigned animal product regulations and notices came into effect.
The redesign of the animal products regulations and notices aims to make it easier for businesses operating under the Animal Products Act 1999 to find and comply with their requirements.
Seafood includes fish and shellfish, such as:
Also classed as seafood is a type of shellfish known as bivalve molluscan shellfish (BMS). BMS have a shell in 2 hinged halves or valves. They include:
You'll need to know the legal requirements for your specific business activity. You should check whether you need to operate under:
You only need to follow the requirements for the activity you're doing.
Our roadmap gives an overview of all legislation and regulations relevant to seafood.
Roadmap for seafood legislation [PDF, 799 KB]
Some activities require you to operate under a risk management programme (RMP). For some, there are codes of practice that you can use. Some businesses find it easier to use one of these to set up an RMP. For seafood processing, there are codes of practice for:
Remember, you only need to meet the requirements that apply to your specific seafood processing activity.
You must meet requirements if you grow, harvest, process, store, or transport BMS commercially:
The requirements you need to meet are:
Find out about the requirements for the bivalve molluscan shellfish (BMS)
Regulated Control Schemes (RCSs) are imposed by the government to manage food-related risks.
If you supply farmed fish (or shellfish or other seafood) for processing, there are other requirements that you must meet.
Fish farms (aquaculture) and food safety requirements
Land-based fish processing premises can carry out primary and/or secondary processing of seafood on land. The requirements you must meet depend on whether you:
Find out about the requirements for land-based seafood processing
If you operate an LPFV, there are restrictions on the fish and fish product you can process on your vessel. The processed fish product may be:
Find out about the requirements for limited processing fishing vessels (LPFVs)
LPFVs must also meet the requirements under the regulated control scheme (RCS) for LPFVs.
Inshore fishing vessel operators harvest fish and other seafood. Visit this page for information on the requirements.
Find out about the requirements for inshore fishing vessels
RMP vessels carry out fishing and primary and/or secondary processing of seafood at sea. Fish processed on RMP vessels may go directly from the vessel to New Zealand or export markets without further processing.
Find out about the requirements for RMP vessels processing seafood at sea
Seafood guidelines are developed to help seafood operators manage certain seafood-related activities or risks.
For example, the Seafood Operational Code describes good operating practice for seafood processing operations, and the Listeria guidance documents describe how operators can minimise Listeria contamination in read-to-eat seafood.
Make sure you also find out about:
Animal Products Act 1999 – NZ Legislation
Food Act 2014 – NZ Legislation
Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code – Food Standards Australia New Zealand
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