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Meeting Food Act requirements

If you sell plant products for human consumption, whether grown in New Zealand or imported, you must meet the requirements of the Food Act 2014.

Check New Zealand's food safety requirements

All food produced in New Zealand for sale in New Zealand or for export must comply with the New Zealand Food Act, the joint Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, and, for pesticide residues, the New Zealand Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) standards. Make sure you're familiar with these requirements.

Pesticide maximum residue levels (MRLs)

All plant products sold as food in New Zealand (except for food imported from Australia) must comply with New Zealand’s MRLs for pesticides. These are established under Food Notice: Maximum Residue Levels for Agricultural Compounds to safeguard consumer health and to promote Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) in the use of insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and other agricultural compounds.

Find out about the New Zealand requirements for residue limits for pesticides in plant products such as fruit, vegetables, or cereals:

Other requirements

Food sold in New Zealand may also need to comply with other requirements, including maximum limits for heavy metals and microbiological contaminants. The Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code has information on this.

Read the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code

Imported food

As well as complying with the Food Act, plant-based foods imported to New Zealand must comply with other regulations. Under the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Agreement (TTMRA), food imported from Australia can be sold in New Zealand if it complies with Australian requirements.

Food imported from places other than Australia must comply with either the Codex MRLs or the MRLs listed in the Food Notice: Maximum Residue Levels for Agricultural Compounds. This includes the ‘default’ MRL of 0.1 mg/kg where no specific MRL is listed.

There may be other requirements that apply to the food product you're importing.

Using research and outbreak reports

MPI, together with other agencies, undertakes research and issues reports which help to improve the safety of plant products. The reports sometimes offer guidance that can help your business to use best food safety practices. MPI uses the reports to inform the development of new food safety standards.

The reports cover a wide range of topics that are of concern to the industry, including outbreaks of foodborne illness and the presence of contaminants in produce.

Keeping up to date

It’s important to keep up to date with any new or revised plant product information, including requirements, consultations, strategies and other content changes.

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