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Have your say
New Zealand Food Safety is consulting on changes to the Organic Export Requirement: Recognised Agencies and Persons (OER: RAP). The OER: RAP forms part of the Official Organic Assurance Programme (OOAP).
The OER: RAP was last updated in March 2023. Since then, we’ve identified areas where further changes are needed to foster continuous improvement on the requirements for agencies and persons.
The proposed updates aim to improve definitions, recognition criteria, and suspension rules.
This consultation is separate to the development of the new Organic Products and Production Act 2023, proposed new regulations, and the national standard for organic food, beverages, and plant and animal products.
We are accepting submissions from 14 May until 5pm on 11 June 2025.
What’s being proposed?
The proposed changes include amendments to:
- definitions
- requirements for recognition of agencies and persons
- requirements for suspension of recognition
- contract for services as a recognised agency for OOAP, including the addition of a schedule to the contract for health and safety.
All proposed additions in the draft OER: RAP are highlighted in yellow. Text that we propose to delete from the existing OER: RAP is not shown. Note that your feedback on the draft OER: RAP should be restricted to the proposed amendments.
Consultation documents
Draft OER: RAP for consultation [PDF, 967 KB]
Summary of proposed changes to the OER: RAP [PDF, 200 KB]
Related document
Existing Organic Export Requirement: Recognised Agencies and Persons [PDF, 489 KB]
Making your submission
Email your feedback on the proposed amendments by 5pm on 11 June 2025 to organics@mpi.govt.nz
We encourage you to use the submission template.
Submission template [DOCX, 97 KB]
While we prefer email, you can post your submission to:
OOAP: Organic Production Rules Consultation
Plant, Wine, and Organic Assurance
Assurance Directorate
Ministry for Primary Industries
PO Box 2526
Wellington 6140
New Zealand.
What to include
Make sure you tell us in your submission:
- the title of the consultation document
- your name and title
- your organisation’s name (if you are submitting on behalf of an organisation, and whether your submission represents the whole organisation or a section of it)
- your contact details (such as phone number, address, and email).
Submissions are public information
Note that all, part, or a summary of your submission may be published on this website. Most often this happens when we issue a document that reviews the submissions received.
People can also ask for copies of submissions under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). The OIA says we must make the content of submissions available unless we have good reason for withholding it. Those reasons are detailed in sections 6 and 9 of the OIA.
If you think there are grounds to withhold specific information from publication, make this clear in your submission or contact us. Reasons may include that it discloses commercially sensitive or personal information. However, any decision MPI makes to withhold details can be reviewed by the Ombudsman, who may direct us to release it.
