New Zealand – Export requirements for fish and seafood

Information

New Zealand has implemented the Import Health Standard: Aquatic Animal Products effective November 11, 2022. You can find this document, including the Schedules which are referenced on this page, in the Additional information section.

Eligible/Ineligible product

Eligible

  • Fish and seafood products are eligible for export based upon their fish family, product form, processing condition, packaging and intended use
  • Salmonid fish which are:
    • headed, gilled and gutted or
    • fish fillets or fish steaks or
    • commercially packaged for direct retail sale and human consumption and requiring no further packaging and/or processing prior to retail sale or use in institutional trade, with a net content of not more than 1.0 kg or 1.0 litre

Ineligible

  • Trout and trout products for commercial use, including but not limited to the following trout species, either dead or alive, any product containing, or any hybrid of the following fish:
    • Brown trout (Salmo trutta)
    • Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
    • American brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)
    • Lake trout or char (Salvelinus namaycush)
    • Cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki)
    • Golden trout (Oncorhynchus aguabonita)
    • Gila trout (Oncorhynchus gilae)
    • Apache trout (Oncorhynchus apache)
    • Mexican trout (Oncorhynchus chyrsogaster)
  • The importation of southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii) for commercial use is prohibited
  • Toothfish
  • Eviscerated non-salmonid fish and products listed in Schedule 3 of the Import Health Standard: Aquatic Animal Products

Pre-export approvals by the competent authority of the importing country

Permit to import

  • Certain products require a Permit to Import, which is issued by the government of New Zealand
  • An import permit is required for:
    • Salmonid fish in headed, gilled and gutted form
    • Salmonid products in bulk form (product which is intended to be further processed and/or packaged in New Zealand prior to retail sale or use in the institutional trade)
    • whole non-salmonid fish intended for further processing in New Zealand
    • non-salmonid fish products commercially packaged for direct retail sale with a net content of more than 1.0 kg or 1.0 litre
    • crustacean products commercially packaged for direct retail sale with a net content of more than 1.0 kg or 1.0 litre
    • mollusc products other than Haliotis spp. (abalone) where the meat of the mollusc has been put on to a clean and sanitized shell
  • See details on the importation of salmonids into New Zealand
  • An import permit application form can be found on the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) website: Permit to Import Animal Products
  • Commercially packaged (non-trout) salmonids do not require an import permit but they must have a CFIA certificate and must be eligible for biosecurity clearance at the New Zealand border

Product specifications

Maximum levels for chemical contaminants

  • Mercury (total): 0.5 ppm
  • Arsenic 1:0 ppm
  • Lead: 2.0 ppm
  • Fluorine: 10.0 ppm
  • Zinc: 40.0 ppm
  • Selenium: 2.0 ppm
  • Cadmium: 1.0 ppm
  • Tin: 150.0 ppm
  • Antimony: 1.0 ppm
  • Copper: 30.0 ppm

These contaminant levels apply to fish and fish products on a fresh weight basis.

Current applicable guidelines, standards and restrictions that can be applied to Canadian fish and fish products may be found in the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries website.

Additional product requirements

There are additional product requirements for fish and seafood products of certain fish species, depending on their product form, processing condition, packaging and intended use.

Some products require that the fish species be listed in Schedules 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 of New Zealand's Import Health Standard: Aquatic Animal Products. For access to the Schedules, please select the Aquatic Animal Products – Import Health Standard pdf file on New Zealand's Requirement documents for importing seafood webpage.

Heat-treated non-salmonid fish products

  • Must have been heat treated to a minimum core temperature of 85°C for a period of not less than 15 minutes; or to a minimum core temperature of 90°C for a period of not less than 10 minutes

Dried non-salmonid fish products

  • Must be eviscerated
  • Must have been mechanically dried at a minimum core temperature of 100°C for a period of not less than 30 minutes

Non-salmonid fish skin-off fish fillets

  • Must be frozen to a minimum core temperature of -20°C for a period of not less than 168 hours prior to transport and/or during transport; or
  • The product is listed in Schedule 7 of New Zealand's Import Health Standard: Aquatic Animal Products

Low-risk, non-salmonid fish products

  • Must be a fish species which is listed in Schedule 4, Schedule 5 or Schedule 6 of the Import Health Standard: Aquatic Animal Products
  • If listed in Schedule 5:
    • The fish must be frozen to a minimum core temperature of -18°C for a period of not less than 168 hours prior to transport and/or during transport
  • If listed in Schedule 6:
    • The fish must be frozen to a minimum core temperature of -18°C for a period of not less than 4 months prior to transport and/or during transport

Heat-treated crustacean products

  • For crustacean species listed in Schedule 8 of the Import Health Standard: Aquatic Animal Products, the product must have been heat treated to:
    • A minimum core temperature of 100°C for a period of not less than 1 minute; or
    • A minimum core temperature of 90°C for a period of not less than 10 minutes
  • For all other crustacean species, the product must be heat treated until all protein in the crustacean meat is coagulated

Frozen crustacean products

  • For crustacean species listed in Schedule 8 of the Import Health Standard: Aquatic Animal Products, the product must have been frozen to a minimum core temperature of -20°C for a period of not less than 72 hours
  • For all other crustacean species, the product must have been frozen to a minimum core temperature of -18°C for a period of not less than 12 hours

Haliotis spp. (abalone) products

  • Must be meat derived only from Haliotis spp.
  • Shells of the Haliotis spp. (abalone) have been removed completely
  • The meat has been heat treated to a minimum core temperature of 55°C for a period of not less than 10 minutes

Mollusc products other than Haliotis spp. (abalone)

  • The product is derived from a mollusc species that is not a Haliotis spp. (abalone)
  • Meat must be cooked, dried or frozen
  • The mollusc shells:
    • have been removed completely and not included in the consignment; or
    • The shells were removed, then clean and sanitized, and the mollusc meat put back onto the cleaned and sanitized shell

Aquatic animal meal and aquatic animal oil

  • The product is derived only from aquatic animal species
  • The product must have attained a minimum core temperature of 80°C for a period of no less than 20 minutes during the manufacturing process

Canned salmon

  • The product has been heat-treated in a hermetically sealed container to an F0 value of 3 or more
  • For equivalent time/temperature combinations that achieve a F0 value of 3, please refer to Schedule 3 of the Specified Animal Products: Import Health Standard pdf file on New Zealand's Requirement documents for importing processed food webpage

Labelling requirements

  • Crustacean products commercially packaged for direct retail sale must be labelled with the words "Not to be used as bait or feed for aquatic animals"

Documentation requirements

Certificate

  1. For salmonids (non-trout):

    Aquatic Animal Health and Sanitary Certificate for the Export of Eviscerated (Non-Trout) Salmonid Products for Human Consumption from Canada to New Zealand (AQAH 1067).

  2. For canned salmon:

    Certificate of Origin and Hygiene (CFIA/ACIA 5003)

    An additional statement must be included on the certificate:
    "The product has been heat-treated in a hermetically sealed container to an F0 value of 3 or more."

  3. For all fish and seafood products (other than salmonids):

    Health Certificate for the Export of Non-salmonid Aquatic Animal Products for Human Consumption from Canada to New Zealand (CFIA/ACIA FA1009).

    If the fish species is listed in Schedule 5 or Schedule 6, of the Import Health Standard: Aquatic Animal Products, the storage temperature, relevant bill of lading or temperature logs of the refrigerated container must be submitted to MPI on arrival to demonstrate that the freezing requirements have been met.

    Certificate Attestations

    This certificate is used for a wide range of non-salmonid fish and seafood products and contains attestations for each product category type. Any attestations which are not applicable to the product to be exported will need to be crossed out by the CFIA inspector.

    When the exporter fills out the certificate template, the exporter must clearly identify the product category type, name of fish family and fish species, and the attestations which are applicable to the product to the inspector.

    For products which fall into two product category types (example: frozen cooked lobster), the exporter should identify the product category type which is most applicable and ensure that the product meets the attestations listed under this product category.

    Failure to identify the required information for completing the attestations at the time of certificate template submission may result in delays or refusal to certify the product.

Additional information

Further information on import requirements can be obtained from the New Zealand's Ministry of Primary Industries webpage on importing seafood.

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