What is a primary meat processor?
For meat products, you are considered to be a primary processor if you:
- slaughter and dress mammals or birds (emus or ostriches), or
- remove, extract, or harvest animal material from live mammals or birds for the purpose of human or animal consumption.
Note: If you're a hunter, or if you process poultry or pet food, you're not considered to be a primary meat processor.
Find out about homekill, game, and wild foods
Find out about processing poultry
Requirements for primary meat processors
Primary meat processors need to operate under a risk management programme (RMP).
An RMP is:
- a written programme that's designed to manage the hazards, wholesomeness, and labelling of animal material and products
- required by the Animal Products Act 1999.
Animal Products Act 1999 – NZ Legislation
Find out more
Risk management programmes – developing, registration and verification, and fees
Meat manuals, guides, standards and list of amendments
The Meat roadmap will help you to find out which requirements apply to your business:
Meat roadmap – to help you find out the requirements that apply to your business [PDF, 1.3 MB]
Requirements for micro abattoirs
Abattoirs are businesses that slaughter and dress farmed animals for human consumption. Micro abattoirs are those that have a low throughput and limited scope of operation. They can process farmed mammals, ostriches, and emus.
The Animal Products Act requires all abattoirs to have an RMP. We've developed a template for micro abattoir operators to use, and a guide to help with completing the template.
Risk management programme (RMP) template for micro abattoirs [PDF, 1 MB]
Who to contact
If you have questions about primary meat processing, email info@mpi.govt.nz
