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You must keep records about the food you import

You must keep records that:

  • show you have confirmed the safety and suitability of the food you import
  • show the food is transported and stored in a way that keeps it safe and suitable
  • describe the food imported
  • enable the food to be traced from the supplier, while it’s in your control, and to the next recipient in the supply chain (unless they are the final consumer)
  • detail any recalls that have been undertaken
  • detail the name and contact information of the supplier you sourced the food from
  • detail the name and contact information of the manufacturer or producer of the food.

You need to keep these records for at least 4 years.

Records must be easily accessible

  • Records need to be easy for you to access at any time.
  • If requested, you must be able to provide the records to a food safety officer as soon as practicable.
  • If a representative of MPI asks for your records and the records are not in English, you might need to pay to have them translated.

Store your records safely

You might need to think about how to store your records to:

  • protect them, so they can be trusted
  • prevent any loss or damage
  • allow them to be easily accessed when necessary.

For electronic records, you might need to create a system that:

  • ensures files cannot be changed without authorisation
  • keeps a record of any changes that are made
  • makes a regular backup of data.

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