Information included on the label of food products has the power to take food products places, says Anisi Bloomfield.

Bloomfield is the chief executive officer of North Star Fishing Company Limited in Nukualofa, Tonga. Last year his company became the first fisheries business in Tonga to be Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) certified. Meaning that the company successfully met international standards of food safety and quality management system, allowing it to export to target markets.

“We’ve been in the business since 2013. We catch deep sea fish, process it according to the requirements of the United States and Australian markets and then export. We knew that getting certification would be important for the future of the company especially for exports. We never thought we’d get HACCP certification because we were new but we were committed to getting our facility up to the standards required by HACCP Australia and we made every effort to comply with their requirements,” he said.

HACCP is a management system that minimises or eliminates risks to food safety. It helps to identify, address and prevent hazards throughout the production process and applies a preventative approach to minimising food hazards. For Bloomfield’s company, carrying the HACCP seal on their product label means they can export to the United States and Australia. It also means they’re able to expand their current client base in both countries.

Prior to being HACCP certified, Bloomfield said their products were packaged at the Tonga National Fisheries Council packing facility which was recognised by the US and Australian markets. “One of the immediate benefits for us is that now we don’t have to go to any packing facility,” he said.

Bloomfield acknowledged the Pacific Horticultural and Agricultural Market Access (PHAMA) Program for helping the company get certification. Funded by the Australian and New Zealand governments, PHAMA is an aid for trade program that provides practical and targeted assistance by developing the capacity of public and private sectors to meet export market requirements.

“PHAMA coordinated with HACCP Australia and that helped to speed the process for us. The real need here is to have someone do the coordinating otherwise we would still be trying to get certification. We were fortunate that PHAMA stepped in to help us and made arrangements,” he explained.

Importance of food safety certification

Food safety standards aim to lower the incidence of foodborne illnesses by placing obligations on food businesses to produce food that is safe for consumption.

With heightened awareness stemming from high-profile food recalls and consumers becoming more health conscious, food safety certification has become a prerequisite for trade. Consumers and markets can be confident that a food business has successfully met the requirements of a national or internationally recognised best practice approach. Certification by an objective third party, referred to as accredited certification, signifies good governance and corporate responsibility.

Growers, processors and exporters are required to comply with the food safety standards of countries they supply. Compliance often means undergoing a series of inspections to determine the hygienic conditions of a facility, its equipment and processing methods of food products.