• The new plan does not change requirements for businesses, but is shorter and easier to use.
• It uses different design, layout and wording to the previous template and more clearly identifies what businesses must do to comply with the law.
• It responds directly to feedback from businesses, who told us they wanted simpler information and less paperwork.
• It comes with a new digital tool, to help businesses select which pages they need to use.
• It's based on what many businesses and councils say would work better for them
• The new template has been introduced alongside the existing template, so businesses can choose which one they want to use.

Thanks again to all those who've spent time on this project. As you know, we held workshops and met with businesses, councils and verifiers throughout the redesign process. We sought feedback on the consultation from all businesses currently using the template (around 10,000).

Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Business said the new plan was “far easier to understand and use” “very user friendly” and “much more practical”. 85% of respondents said they understood what they needed to do.  

Of course, we had some negative feedback too. Some councils and businesses felt it would be harder to keep records without templates. We've addressed this by creating a toolkit, which includes templates for all records that need to be kept. This is available now alongside the new plan.  

A few of you also felt the plan had been over-simplified. We'd like to reassure you that the new plan does not change requirements for businesses. It has been evaluated by qualified food safety expert against HACCP criteria. We are confident that it will ensure safe and suitable food and meet the requirements of the Food Act.

See a summary of feedback and changes we've made

We have also made minor updates to the previous template, in response to the November 2016 consultation on regulations and notices. The key changes are to the sushi and sous-vide sections, which have been revised in BOTH versions of the template.

The previous plan has been re-released as the March 2017 version.

Businesses using the December 2015 version will need to update their plan at their next registration. Those using sous vide need to update that section within 30 days.

 

Last week we launched an advertising campaign to help remind businesses about upcoming deadlines to register under the Food Act. The campaign features radio and digital advertising, along with a media release and social media activity. 

If anyone would like these ads to use on their own channels, just let me know.

Check out an example of the digital ads on our Facebook page

The ECE sector have raised concerns around the Food Act, including the high cost of verification and varying registration processes/ costs in different areas.

We've been liaising closely with the sector to address their concerns. We have advised ECE organisations that if they are unable to find a suitable verifier they can register without one for now. They should also email info@mpi.govt.nz to let us know about the quotes they've received. Councils can add themselves as a verifier if they are in the process of getting recognised. Otherwise, MPI will help centres to find a suitable verifier in the coming months.

To help make information clearer for ECE centres, we have created a new web page that gives them all the information they need in one place

See the ECE web page