Find out the requirements that animal material depots must meet to hold seafood before it's transferred to a processor or fish retailer.
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.
Animal material depots temporarily hold fish material (other than bivalve molluscan shellfish) before it's transferred to a seafood processor or retailer.
An animal material depot holding fish may:
But animal material depots can't process any fish.
If you operate an animal material depot that holds fish and seafood, there are food safety requirements you must meet. These include:
You're not required to have a risk management programme (RMP). The requirements for animal material depots that hold fish and seafood are listed in:
If your animal material depot holds bivalve molluscan shellfish, there are different requirements you need to meet as set out in the animal products notice.
Animal Products Notice: Regulated Control Scheme – Bivalve Molluscan Shellfish for Human Consumption [PDF, 900 KB]
Bivalve molluscan shellfish (BMS) post-harvest operators
Before you can operate an animal material depot, you must:
Contact an agency recognised by MPI and ask them to:
Find a recognised verification agency
Use form AP19 to apply to be listed as an animal material depot, or to renew your listing.
Application form AP19 – Animal material depot listing [PDF, 578 KB]
You also need to:
If your application is accepted you'll appear on our public list of all animal material depots. You need to apply to be re-listed every 2 years.
Public list of animal material depots
Once your animal material depot is listed with MPI, you must have regular verification carried out by a recognised agency. Table 21 and 22 of the Production, Supply and Processing Notice tells you how often this needs to happen.
Animal Product Notice: Production, Supply and Processing [PDF, 2.5 MB]
If your depot holds fish for human consumption that will be exported after processing, you'll need to meet additional requirements.
Find out about the requirements for exporting seafood
Find out about storing animal products for export
If you have questions about animal material depots, email info@mpi.govt.nz
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