New Zealand has signed a Food Safety Systems Recognition Arrangement with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), under which the countries will recognise each other's food safety system as being equivalent to their own.
The arrangement was signed at a meeting in Washington DC by teams from the FDA and New Zealand's Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).
New Zealand is the first country to sign such an arrangement with the US.
Both countries plan to use this arrangement to lower the regulatory burden on food shipments by eliminating unnecessary duplication of activities.
The agreement includes all foods and animal feeds regulated by the FDA, and is expected to positively impact exporters of manufactured foods.
The partnership is estimated to cover nearly NZ$1.5bn ($1.26bn) of New Zealand's current exports of primary products.
MPI general standards deputy director Carol Barnao said that this is the first time that the FDA has recognised another country's food system as comparable to its own.
"Systems recognition agreements are very important for MPI to help us achieve one of our key strategic goals of maximising export opportunities through other countries' recognition of the credibility of our food safety controls," Barnao added.
FDA deputy commissioner for food Michael R Taylor said the arrangement with New Zealand is part of the agency's overall plan to strengthen global food safety by developing a closer partnership with regulators around the world.
In order to enter into this arrangement, the US and New Zealand officials took up a thorough evaluation of each country's laws and regulations, inspection programmes, response to food-related illness and outbreaks, compliance and enforcement, and laboratory support.
The officials also visited production plants, cold storage facilities, verifiers and accreditation authorities, in order to ascertain how preventative controls and verification systems are being implemented.
