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Kia ora koutou,
The festive season is well and truly upon us, and the project team are rounding out what has been a very productive year.
Notice content to supplement the Organic Standards and Organic Products and Production Regulations
The second tranche of notice content is now out for public consultation, we are seeking your input on the proposed Organic Notice: Recognised Entities, Verification and Evaluation (Tranche 2).
The topics covered in this second tranche of notice content include:
- recognition
- accreditation
- quality management systems
- competencies
- record keeping
- verification
- evaluation
In addition to your general feedback on this second tranche of notice content, MPI is seeking feedback on a proposed amendment to the Organic Products and Production Regulations 2025 to support verification for official assurances where these are required for import into a destination market.
Currently, the regulations only enable verification of operators (and their products) on a scheduled frequency. They do not enable the verification for official assurance on a as requested basis. This omission means that MPI would be unable to require recognised third-party agencies to verify consignments’ eligibility for export.
The intention is, that when an official assurance is sought, a recognised entity will verify the eligibility of the products for the destination market. Section 3.13 of the notice sets out the way this verification will be carried out, and the things to be considered. The amendment to the regulations will allow for these requirements. The parts of the regulations that are relevant to verification for official assurances will also apply.
The consultation documents can be found here:
Consultation on this tranche closes on Monday 2 March 2026.
We expect to open public consultation on tranche 3 of the notice content in early February. Tranche 3 content will supplement both the Organic Standards and Organic Products and Production regulations and will include requirements related to organic management plans, record keeping and importation.
The project team would like to wish you all a wonderful festive season.
Ngā mihi,
The Organic Project Team
