As an export establishment, you are responsible for the development and continual review
of your approved supplier program to guarantee it meets your approved arrangement.
For dairy ingredients, you must ensure that they are only sourced from an export registered establishment
or export registered storage facility.
A complete list of all companies approved to supply your ingredients,
packaging, chemicals and any other inputs should form part of your approved supplier program.
Evidence of this approval must be available
and may include accreditation certificates,
product specifications, certificate of analysis,
records of supplier audits, or manufacturers declarations.
Approved suppliers must meet your needs
and be able to provide goods and services which are fit for their purpose.
Importing countries may request additional testing or certificates for granting market access.
You are responsible for ensuring that your products destined for export,
comply with all requested criteria, including food standards code and legislative requirements.
You must have documented systems in place to control the raw milk and cream supply.
Any antibiotics in milk which may be detected from a farm
must be included in your corrective action program.
Should you plan to export products to the EU,
your procedures will need to include how you notify of any antibiotic test failure
to the key stakeholders
and meet additional importing country requirements.
You will need to clearly document temperature controls for milk you receive from your farm supplier.
If your site receives milk above the acceptable limit of five degrees celsius,
you will need to ensure your procedures include how you validate and manage this.
If imported ingredients are to be used,
you must ensure that these ingredients are safe for consumption
and the labelling of the final product must not be misleading.
The country or origin of milk and milk products
must be clearly stated and meet the requirements of the trade practices act.
Imported ingredients must not pose a risk to the safety of the food being manufactured.
Import clearance documents from the department and any other supporting documents
could be used as evidence to demonstrate this.
You are responsible for the continual management and monitoring
of your approved supplier program
and to ensure it meets legislative requirements.
It's expected that the program will have links back to your corrective action
and internal audit systems.
By having a robust approved supplier program,
your establishment can ensure you receive goods and services
which are consistently of the expected quality and food safety,
enabling you to manufacture export eligible products.