. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/NZL/413 
11 November 2008  
 (08-5475) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  NEW ZEALAND
  
If applicable, name of local government involved:     
2. Agency responsible:  Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item numb er(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where applicable):  Frozen, skinless, boneless fish fillets (or mince derived from fillets) of non-
CITES listed spp. of catfish ( Pangasius  spp.) for human consumption 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable :  
Viet Nam 
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  Import health standard for 
processed tilapia and catfish fo r human consumption from specif ied countries (available in 
English, 7 pages) 
6. Description of content:  The import health standard for specified processed freshwater fish 
for human consumption from specified countri es currently only contains tilapia from the 
People's Republic of China and Brazil.  This standard has now been amended to include 
catfish from Viet Nam.  This amendment is base d on the import risk analysis:  frozen skinless 
and boneless fillet meat of Pangasius  spp. fish from Viet Nam for human consumption.  The 
import conditions are identical to the curr ent conditions for processed tilapia from the 
People's Republic of China and Brazil. 
General sanitary measures were considered necessary: 
(a) to ensure that the likelihood of clinically or  sub-clinically diseased fish being harvested 
for processing is minimised: 
− both the farm of origin and the processing  facility must be registered with the 
competent authority of the country in question; 
− fish processed must be derived from broodstock resident in the exporting country; 
− fish showing clinical signs of disease, se pticaemia or skin ul ceration must not be 
harvested for processing into this commodity;  and 
− fish harvested must not be subject to emergency slaughter for disease reasons, 
regardless of whether or not they display clinical signs themselves. 
(b) to avoid contamination of the commod ity with exotic foodborne pathogens: 
− only potable water should be used during the processing of the fish into fillet meat. G/SPS/N/NZL/413 
Page 2  
 
   (c) to ensure compliance with freezing and transport regime included in the commodity 
definition: 
− to ensure that the inactivation of pathogen ic and parasitic organi sms, caused by the 
freezing process, does occur, it must be determined that the commodity was frozen and held at -18°C, or lower, for at le ast 7 days (168 hours) before a biosecurity 
clearance is issued.  
7. Objective and rationale:  [ X ] food safety, [ X ] animal health,  [   ] plant protection, 
[ X ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease,  [ X ] protect territory from 
other damage from pests    
8. International standard, guideline or recommendation:  
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention, [   ] None  
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:    
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:   Import risk analysis:  
frozen skinless and bonel ess fillet meat of Pangasius  spp. fish from Viet Nam for human 
consumption (available in English) 
10. Proposed date of adoption:  31 January 2009 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  31 January 2009 
12. Final date for comments:  12 December 2008 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [   ] National notification 
authority, [   ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if 
available) of other body: 
13. Texts available from:  [ X ] National notificati on authority, [   ] Na tional enquiry point, 
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: 
Ms Sally Jennings, Coordinator, SPS New Zeal and, PO Box 2526, Wellington, New Zealand.  
Tel:  +(64 4) 894 0431;  Fax:  +(64 4) 894 0733;  E-mail:  sps@maf.govt.nz 
Website:  www.maf.govt.nz/biosecurity/sps/tran sparency/notifications/index.htm