New Zealand court upholds pork import standards

New Zealand’s High Court has validated the rules used by the Ministry for Primary Industries when developing import requirements for pork from countries where PRRS occurs.

The new import health standards are less restrictive than the previous standards, but are more restrictive than the standards in place before 2001. Part 3 of the Biosecurity Act 1993 is to provide risk management guidelines with the importation of risk goods. The Director General of the Ministry of Primary Industries can, advised by a chief technical officer, issue import health standards. The Biosecurity Regualtions prohibit the feeding of uncooked meat to pigs.

The practise of feeding uncooked meat to pigs is seen as the most likely route through which PRRS could reach NZ’s shores. New Zealand Pork, the New Zealand Pork Industry Board operational name, challenged the relaxation of pork import standards, which lead to the High Court ruling. NZPork has till the end of May whether it will continue to challenge the Ministry’s procedures.

Source: New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries