Egg Food Safety Scheme

​​​​National Egg PPP Standard

Tasmania, in line with all Australian States and Territories, is required to comply with Standa​rd 4.2.5 Primary Production and Processing Standard for Eggs and Egg Products​ (Egg PPP Standard) published in the Food Standards Code by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) - the national Government agency that that develops and administers food standards in Australia.

The Egg PPP Standard was developed in response to the level of egg-related illnesses occurring in Australia each year - estimated at more than 12,000 cases and costing $44 million.

The Egg PPP Standard commenced in November 2012 and is designed to reduce egg related incidents in Australia by:

• legally requiring commercial egg producers and processors to identify and control hazards, such as ensuring feed is not contaminated;
• requiring producers and processors to operate according to a food safety management statement (food safety program) which has been approved by the relevant authority and subjected to ongoing verification activities (accreditation and audits);
• prohibiting the sale of cracked and dirty eggs unless sold to a processor for pasteurisation; and
• requiring individual eggs to be stamped with the producer's unique identification so the source of any food safety or biosecurity incident in Australia involving eggs can be quickly traced.

Each State is responsible for preparing its specific regulations to enable compliance with the Egg PPP Standard.

The Egg Food Safety Scheme in Tasmania was established by the Primary Produce Safety (Egg) Regulations 2014 which are made under the Primary Produce Safety Act 2011.

The Egg Food Safety Scheme was developed in consultation with a range of egg producers as well as feedback received from a broader public consultation process.

Key Features of Tasmania's Egg Food Safety Scheme

• The Egg Food Safety Scheme achieves an appropriate balance between providing for food safety, including responses to egg-related foodborne illness, whilst also supporting smaller egg producers and hobbyists.
• A key objective of the Scheme is to have full enhanced traceability in case of an egg-borne food safety or biosecurity incident.
• Egg producers who do not come under Category 1 or 2 (below) are exempt, i.e. non-commercial, "backyard" egg producers, who produce eggs on their property primarily for their own consumption, will be fully exempt from the Scheme requirements.
• The Scheme replaces the Egg Industry Act 2002.

Summary of requirements under the Egg Food Safety Scheme

The Egg Food Safety Scheme introduces a mandatory accreditation requirement for commercial egg producers based on the volume of eggs produced.

This production threshold is 20 dozen eggs in any week (and is the equivalent of keeping approximately 50 egg laying birds).

Egg producers above the threshold will require full accreditation and must have an approved food safety program that is independently audited at least once every 12 months. Accredited producers will also be required (as a condition of accreditation) to stamp eggs with their unique identifier in accordance with the Food Standards Code traceability provisions.

Commercial egg producers who are under the production threshold (producing less than 20 dozen eggs per week) will not be required to hold an accreditation or pay for annual food safety audits. However such producers will be required to register with Biosecurity Tasmania and also comply with the Egg PPP Standard, including stamping their eggs with a unique identification mark. This does not involve any annual statutory fee.

Biosecurity Tasmania will provide a hand stamping device to producers in this category free of charge once they register, so that they can easily comply with the traceability requirements of the national Egg PPP Standard.

The following sets out the requirements of the Egg Food Safety Scheme for commercial egg producers.

​Category 1 - Unaccredited Small Egg Producers