. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/NZL/348 
21 April 2006 
 (06-1834) 
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:  New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA)  
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where applicable):  List of tariff codes currently monitored attached, some of these will no longer 
be monitored should the proposal be adopted.  
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable:  Any 
country exporting or wishing to export any meat or other food product of a bovine animal and 
any food product derived from or containing the meat or products of a bovine animal intended 
for human consumption, to New Zealand.  
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:   
1. Proposal to Amend the BSE Measures Applying to Imported Food for Human 
Consumption (Available in English; 27 pages) 
2. Officials’ Review of New Zealand’ s BSE Country-Categorisation Measure; 
(Available in English; 33 pages)  
6. Description of content:  Consultation document outlining NZ FSA’s proposal to amend New 
Zealand’s current BSE Country -Categorisation Measure wh ich determines  the import 
requirements for any me at or other food product of a bovine animal and any food product 
derived from or containing the meat or pr oducts of a bovine animal intended for human 
consumption that are monitored for the potenti al risk of BSE.  The discussion document is 
NZFSA’s proposed response to last year’s Offi cials’ Review of New Zealand’s current BSE 
Country Categorisation Measure.  
7. Objective and rationale: [ X ] food safety,  [   ] animal health,  [   ] plant protection, 
[   ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [   ] protect territory from other damage from pests   G/SPS/N/NZL/348 
Page 2  
 
  8. International standard, guideline or recommendation: 
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission,  [ X ] 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:  It is proposed that New Zealand will move to a 
simpler, three tier country categorisation system , rather than the existing five categories.  
This is based on the OIE’s Terrestrial Animal Health Code, but with some differences: 
• No restriction for gelatine derived from bones. 
• No age restrictions with respect to the eligibility of meat from cattle. 
Exempting products with minimal bovine content.  
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  These differences 
are outlined in the consultation document and Officials’ Review report . 
10. Proposed date of adoption:  24 July 2006 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  24 July 2006 
12. Final date for comments:  19 May 2006 
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 notifica tion authority, [   ] National enquiry 
point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:   
Ms Sally Griffin, Coordinator, SPS New Zeala nd, PO Box 2526, Wellington, New Zealand.  
Tel: +64 4 819 0431; Fax: +64 4 819 0731; E-mail:  sps@maf.govt.nz 
Website: www.maf.govt.nz/biosecurity/sps /transparency/notifications/index.htm