Berries that are ready-to-eat

All biosecurity requirements must be met before Imported Food Inspection Scheme requirements apply.

Check our Biosecurity Import Conditions system (BICON) for import conditions.

We classify imported food that presents a potential medium or high risk to public health as risk food. All risk food is listed in the Imported Food Control Order 2019.

Ready to eat berries that are fresh, frozen or dried are classified as risk food

This includes, but is not limited to, these types of fresh, chilled, frozen, or dried berries:

• barberries
• bilberries
• blackberries
• blueberries
• cranberries
• currants (Ribes genus)
• gooseberries (Ribes genus)
• loganberries
• mulberries
• raspberries
• strawberries.

Exclusions

• berries that are retorted
• berries that are processed, for example, pulp, puree, concentrate, or juice
• berries that are an ingredient in mixed ready-to-eat food
• açai berries, goji berries and red bayberries (yumberries)
• food from New Zealand.

Food safety management certificates

From 9 November 2022, consignments of ready-to-eat berries that are either fresh, chilled or frozen, and are not retorted, must be lodged with a food safety management certificate.

The certificate must show that the producer has a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) based food safety management system in place. This system must identify and control food safety hazards, such as hepatitis A virus. The certificate must cover primary production and processing of the food.

See our determination section below to find out what food safety management certificates we will recognise.

Ready-to-eat berries that are dried may be lodged with a voluntary food safety management certificate.

The presentation of a food safety management certificate replaces testing for E. coli.

Declaring certificates

When lodging a Full Import Declaration (FID), use the correct ICS document code and certificate number for the food.

See requirements for lodging a food safety management certificate.

Community Protection (CP) question

You will need to answer this CP question when lodging your full import declaration.

IFIS: Are the goods ready-to-eat berries that are either fresh, chilled, frozen or dried and are not retorted? For ready-to-eat berries that are fresh, chilled or frozen you must provide a food safety management certificate.

Inspection and testing

We refer consignments of berries for analytical testing at the rate of 5%. During inspection we will also conduct a visual and label assessment.

Table 1 shows the tests that will be applied and permitted results for the food type.

n = the minimum number of sample units that must be examined from a lot of food.
c = the maximum allowable number of defective sample units, that have counts between ‘m’ and ‘M’.
m = the acceptable microbiological level in a sample unit.
M = the level, which when exceeded (the level is greater than M), in one or more samples would cause the lot to be rejected.

Food safety risks

Food Standards Australia New Zealand has given us advice that fresh and frozen, ready-to-eat berries present a potential high risk to public health for hepatitis A, and that dried, ready-to-eat berries present a potential medium risk to public health for hepatitis A.

To make sure there are food safety controls in place to manage this hazard during production and processing we require food safety management certificates for imports of the higher risk, fresh, chilled or frozen berries.

Determination

We have identified what food safety management certificates we will recognise in this determination.

The determination sets out:

• who can issue the certificate
• scope of the certification
• who the certificate covers
• how it can be verified.

Glossary

Ready-to-eat

Food is ready-to-eat if it is ordinarily consumed in the same state as that in which it is sold.

To avoid doubt, food is not ordinarily consumed in the same state as that in which it is sold if, before it is consumed, it requires further processing (such as cooking) to reduce any pathogenic microorganisms potentially present in the food to safe levels.

Retorted

Goods (other than animal products) are retorted if they are heated in a hermetically sealed container for a time, and to a temperature, sufficient to make the contents commercially sterile.

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