Dar seafood ppp standard

General provisions which set out basic food safety requirements for the hygienic primary production and processing of seafood, and

Specific provisions for higher risk primary production seafood sectors, requiring the implementation of food safety management systems.



Figure 1 outlines the relationship between general provisions, specific provisions for higher risk sectors, and guideline documents that will assist regulators to interpret the Standard and industry to comply with the Standard.

Figure 1: Regulatory framework for food safety management in seafood

The general provisions are designed to minimise food safety hazards, and cover seafood primary production and processing activities that are not currently regulated under the Code. Such provisions are similar to the provisions in Chapter 3 of the Code (Standards 3.2.2 and 3.2.3), but tailored to the needs and situation of the seafood primary production sector. These provisions would include requirements to ensure that food was not contaminated during its production or handling, that adequate temperature control of the food is maintained, and that staff have the necessary skills and knowledge about food safety for the work they undertake. This option is intended to include simple on-vessel processing such as the gutting and filleting of finfish.
The specific provisions address identified higher risk seafood sectors, and require those seafood businesses to implement written food safety management systems such as Standard 3.2.1. In the case of seafood businesses producing bivalve molluscs, it will be mandatory to comply with pre-harvest provisions identified in the Australian Shellfish Quality Assurance Program. This will ensure that bivalve molluscs are only harvested under conditions that assure their safety. Additionally, these businesses will be required to implement food safety programs for the post-harvest sector up to the back door of the retail sector. This is consistent with the Ministerial decision of December 2003 on food safety management in Australia to only have requirements for food safety programs for sectors that have been identified as higher risk and where it has been demonstrated that the benefits will outweigh the costs. In this regard, Ministers agreed to specifically recommend the introduction of food safety programs for oysters and other bivalves following a benefit-cost analysis undertaken as part of the National Risk Validation Project.
Regulators will be assisted with enforcement by the development of an interpretive guide prepared by FSANZ, and industry will be assisted by tools such as guidelines and templates to comply with the Standard. States will replace any existing Standards with the new Primary Production and Processing Standard for Seafood (in the Code) and thus achieve a single, national, approach to food safety along the seafood supply chain.