NZ urged to cash in on food laws

Farmers should view increasingly tough European food standards as an opportunity rather than a barrier, says AgriQuality chairwoman Sue Suckling.

"The higher the bar the better for New Zealand," she says.

"If you can meet the standards and others can't, then you have an access premium."

In the past six years, Suckling has overseen the transformation of New Zealand's quality assurance organisation from a Government department focused on ticking off international regulations to a profitable state-owned enterprise with its focus firmly on market access.

AgriQuality chief executive John Morgan puts the company's vision in simple terms.

"We have the opportunity to brand New Zealand as the producer of the best food in the world. The key is proving it," he says.

"Proving it" is essentially AgriQuality's job. Morgan says the company has worked hard to establish itself as a quality assurance brand trusted by big retailers in Europe and other key markets.

A series of food health scares during the past five years - such as the dioxin in chicken feed issue in Belgium, foot and mouth and BSE outbreaks in Britain and bird flu in Asia - has heightened awareness of food safety among European and Asian consumers.

"It's fair to say that consumer expectations are now well ahead of regulatory standards all over the world," Morgan says.

With 750 staff, AgriQuality is first and foremost a science and technology company but, unlike the Crown Research institutes, it is not a research company.

One of its most important tools are databases created at each point in the supply chain.

The first is a rural database with details of more than 100,000 farms and nearly every commercial livestock flock or herd in the country.

Off the farm, there is a database called qualcheck, which records details of quality services at the processing stage - such as dairy plants, fruit packhouses and meat-processing plants.

Then there is another database called virtual lab, which stores all Agriquality's lab testing results. That now allows clients to see lab testing results online.

Finally, AgriQuality has set up a market access database which keeps tabs on data relevant to various requirements. "An example would be, 'Is this food really organic?"' Morgan says.

Ultimately, all this information will be accessible to consumers. In theory, shoppers may be able to use their phone to check the origins of the steak they are buying. Maybe even download a picture of the animal they are about to eat.

That may, of course, be more information than most consumers can stomach or have the time for.

Suckling says: "You'll be able to take an identifier off the product package, go on to the web and look right back to the farm where it was produced. We're speaking with food producers who are now looking at doing exactly that."

She says such developments are nothing for local producers to fear.

"We should have the view that your standards can always get better. For New Zealand, it is an opportunity. We have the ability to produce outstanding quality food. We just want to be in a position where we can prove it better than anybody else."

The four databases

* Rural: Contains the details of more than 100,000 farms.

* Qualcheck: Records details at processing.

* Virtual lab: Stores all laboratory testing results.

* Market access: Keeps tabs on data relevant to various requirements.