Egg restrictions under review

TASMANIAN pastured egg producers are hopeful that “overly restrictive” regulations holding back their industry will soon be changed. 

Members of the newly formed Tasmanian Pastured Poultry Producers group (TPPP) met Primary Industries Minister Jane Howlett on Monday to discuss the major challenges producers are facing when it comes to developing or expanding their businesses. 

TPPP spokesperson Adam Martin described the meeting as very positive and said producers are now waiting to see what changes can be implemented. 

One of the major issues discussed during the meeting was the removal of the food safety program Egg Production March 2015 template, which producers had previously used to gain accreditation. 

Mr Martin said until it was removed, this template was the main tool which informed them about the accreditation requirements and allowed them to be formally accredited. Instead, producers are now being required to adhere to the National Construction Code Special Room requirements, which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars just to build a simple egg processing room. 

Mr Martin said group members explained to the Minister that a number of producers had already spent more than $50,000 in an effort to comply with the NCC requirements, but had still not managed to gain accreditation. 

He said the requirements under the NCC meant building an egg washing and packing facility was completely unfeasible due to the excessive cost and restrictions. 

Mr Martin said the group also discussed working with a more senior member of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to ensure producers can have confidence their accreditation requests will be dealt with in a timely way and they will receive good advice. 

If these measures cannot be achieved, Mr Martin said the Minister had committed to assisting the industry to developing a new standard based on the national food safety regulations, but not be tied to the NCC requirements. 

These guidelines would be based on existing industry regulations being used in Victoria and New South Wales. 

Mr Martin said TPPP members were happy and relieved their issues had been heard and he will follow up with the NRE to ensure the commitments are followed through on. 

Ms Howlett said it was good to meet with representatives of Tasmanian Pastured Poultry Producers this week. 

She said the Government will continue to work with the industry to investigate options to make it easier to do business in Tasmania.