General Circular - Remote food safety audits update

Remote audits to continue until 30 June 2022

NSW Government advice in response to the increased number of COVID-19 cases has resulted in travel and work restrictions in some regions. This continues to impact audit arrangements where licensed facilities cannot operate or auditors are not permitted to travel.
 
On 1 July 2021, the NSW Food Authority advised regulatory food safety auditors and NSW Food Authority licensees that remote audits would be introduced.

A Remote Auditing Guide was developed for regulatory food safety auditors who are approved under the Food Act 2003 to conduct remote audits for some types of food businesses where there is limited or no access to food premises or food preparation areas due to COVID-19 restrictions. The Food Authority regularly reviews this document as COVID-19 evolves to ensure it remains fit for purpose.

As a result of the current COVID-19 situation and subsequent review of the guidance document, existing auditing arrangements in which NSW Food Authority licensees receive remote compliance audits from NSW Food Authority staff or approved Third Party Auditors, will be extended until 30 June 2022 unless otherwise advised.

The NSW Food Authority will continue to monitor facilities through the collection and review of processing information obtained and submitted by licensed processing facilities.

More information

If you have questions about remote audits under the Food Act 2003, please contact the NSW Food Authority Helpline on 1300 552 406 or at food.contact@dpi.nsw.gov.au.