Do I need an accreditation?

An accreditation is required for the following activities:

• Producing eggs for supply
• Handling other people’s eggs
• Washing, grading (including assessing for cracks) another person’s eggs
• Washing and handling eggs at a wholesale premises (Safe Food policy states that, although the Egg Scheme relates to wholesale premises, they are not required to be accredited if they do not physically handle individual eggs)
• Processing eggs to produce egg product
• Pasteurising egg pulp (as long as this activity is included in their food safety program)
• Operating under a preferred supplier arrangement (PSA) for eggs. A PSA allows approved egg producers to supply eggs exclusively to an egg processor. A producer who is operating under a PSA cannot sell eggs directly to the public, or to anyone else other than the egg processor identified in their accreditation application.

An accreditation is not required for the following activities:

• Keeping birds as pets and not selling the eggs
• Using eggs for personal consumption
• Operating a hatchery and not selling eggs
• Growing or producing stock feed
• Being a retailer who sells eggs (except if you sell eggs straight from your farm gate).*

*Queensland Health and your local government look after the retail sale of eggs under the Food Act 2006

An accreditation is required for the following activities:

• Commercial fishing
• Aquaculture activities
• Land based seafood processing
• Oyster growing
• Oyster picking
• Storing seafood (cold storage and live fish)

An accreditation is not required for the following activities:

• Recreational fishing
• Producing seafood for an end purpose other than for food (e.g. bait, fingerlings, spat)
• Transporting seafood
• Engaging in the retail sale of seafood and not supplying or distributing seafood in any other way

An accreditation is required for the production of seed sprouts, including, for example, the following:

• decontamination of seed or seed sprouts;
• soaking of seed;
• germination or growth of seed;
• harvest of seed sprouts;
• washing, drying or packing of seed sprouts

An accreditation is not required for the following activities:

• retail sales of horticulture produce

The following activities are captured by the new Primary Production and Processing (PPP) standards for berries, melons and leafy vegetables:

• growing
• harvesting
• washing
• trimming
• sorting
• sanitising
• storing
• combining harvested produce
• packing
• transporting

These new PPP standards are set to take effect in February 2025. Different horticultural operations will have varying regulatory requirements based on their specific business activities and the risks associated with those activities. If you’re not sure if you will require accreditation under the new legislation, please contact our dedicated Safe Food Horticulture Officers on 1 800 300 815 and press option 4.

An accreditation is required for the following activities:

• Milking an animal at a dairy
• Processing milk at a dairy
• Storing milk at a dairy
• Rearing an animal at a dairy for milking at the dairy
• Growing stock food at a dairy for consumption by an animal to be milked at the dairy
• Transporting dairy produce:
  • from a dairy to a factory
  • from a factory to another factory for further processing
  • to or from a depot
  • within a factory
• Handling or storing milk at a depot before transporting the milk to a factory for processing
• Processing dairy produce (e.g. pasteurisation, homogenisation, manufacture of cheese)
• Processing, supplying or selling pet food
• Treating an animal to be milked at a dairy with drugs and/or pesticides
• Producing goat milk for human consumption

An accreditation is not required for the following activities:

• Growing stock food at a place other than a dairy for consumption by an animal to be milked at a dairy
• Supplying stock food to a dairy for consumption by an animal to be milked at the dairy
• Transporting stock food to a dairy for consumption by an animal to be milked at a dairy
• Rearing an animal to be supplied to a dairy for milking
• Transporting an animal to a dairy for milking
• Transporting dairy produce from a factory to a wholesaler or retailer
• Retail sales of dairy produce, other than pet food
• Manufacturing ice-cream if retail sales of ice-cream are made from the retail premises where ice-cream is produced.

Free Online Training

Several online training courses are available to dairy manufacturers within Australia to help improve their skills and knowledge in food safety. These are available free of charge.

VIEW TRAINING COURSES

The Queensland Egg Food Safety Scheme has been in place since 2005.

The National Egg Standard developed by Foods Standards Australia New Zealand and introduced in late 2012 is modelled on the Queensland Egg Scheme.

Queensland’s egg industry is comprised of both a number of large processing and distribution businesses, as well as approximately 86 egg production farms.

The seafood scheme was introduced in 2009 and was the first Food Safety Scheme to adopt, in its entirety, a Primary Production and Processing Standard from chapter 4 of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.

Queensland seafood has long had a world-class reputation and the industry is a major contributor to export income. Safe Food engages with around 200 seafood processors, cold stores, fishing vessels and aquaculture farms (eg. oyster farmers).

The national Primary Production & Processing (PPP) Standard for Seed Sprouts came into effect on 12 July 2013.

Based on an evaluation of risk conducted by Safe Food, a scheme was introduced for horticulture covering only seed sprouts in order for Queensland to meet its obligations in relation to the adoption of the National Standard.

There are three new national PPP Standards for berries, melons and leafy vegetables will take effect Australia-wide in February 2025.

However, amendments to Queensland’s Food Production (Safety) Regulation 2014 are necessary to adopt the standards into Queensland legislation and make them enforceable. The Queensland Department of Primary Industries is progressing these changes and is continuing to work with Safe Food and engage peak industry bodies to achieve the February target.

The Food Safety Scheme for Dairy Produce started on 1 January 2003 with the introduction of the first iteration of the Food Production (Safety) Regulation 2014.

The Scheme outlines the food safety requirements for the production and processing of dairy products in Queensland. It also gives effect to the National Standards for Primary Production and Processing of Dairy Products and Specific Cheeses (Standards 4.2.4 and 4.2.4A of the Australia New Zealand Food Standard Code).