With an expanding market in growing, processing and selling food products, authorities are beginning to take food safety more seriously. This is in light of the Fonterra botulism scare earlier on in the year.
When given a survey by KPMG, farmers and rural leaders rated food safety almost as high as biosecurity in terms of their concerns. They believe that the authorities should continue to change and improve the rules as to rebuild trust with New Zealand’s exporters.
From the KPMG report, many respondents felt that the industry must proactively increase investments in research to be up to date with the evolving challenges of food safety. Factors like changes in the natural environment can affect the industry. It is very important to let science help guide the market’s access to negotiations and regulatory responses.
Though some believe that food safety regulations would be best managed by the companies, since they are the ones that own the customer relations but authorities soon realised this does not work. The case with Fonterra extended beyond the company and even the dairy sector around New Zealand.
As officials continue to discuss the direction of New Zealand’s food safety position, producers now hang on a thread until a conclusion can be made.
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