{"id":"F2012L00292","name":"Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code - Standard 4.2.2 - Primary Production and Processing Standard for Poultry Meat (Australia Only)","slug":"australia-new-zealand-food-standards-code-standard-4-2-2-primary-production-and-processing-standard-","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":142796,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2012L00292-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code - Standard 4.2.2 - Primary Production and Processing Standard for Poultry Meat (Australia Only)","content":"Standard 4.2.2\n\nPRIMARY PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING STANDARD FOR POULTRY MEAT\n\n(Australia only)\n\nPurpose and commentary\n\nThis Standard sets out a number of food safety requirements for the primary production and processing of poultry, and poultry carcasses and poultry meat for human consumption. At the primary production stage, businesses that produce poultry must implement measures to control the food safety hazards and must be able to trace their products. Businesses that process poultry must control their food safety hazards and must be able to trace their products.\n\nIt is the responsibility of these businesses not only to comply with this Standard but also to be able to demonstrate compliance. This Standard is, in part, intended to reduce the contamination of poultry, poultry carcasses and poultry meat by pathogenic Campylobacter and Salmonella.\n\nTable of Provisions\n\nDivision 1 – Preliminary\n\n1 Interpretation\n\n2 Application\n\nDivision 2 – Primary production of poultry\n\n3 General food safety management\n\n4 Inputs\n\n5 Waste disposal\n\n6 Health and hygiene requirements\n\n7 Skills and knowledge\n\n8 Design, construction and maintenance of premises, equipment and transportation vehicles\n\n9 Traceability\n\n10 Sale or supply\n\nDivision 3 – Processing of poultry\n\n11 Application\n\n12 General food safety management\n\n13 Receiving birds for processing\n\n14 Inputs\n\n15 Waste disposal\n\n16 Skills and knowledge\n\n17 Traceability\n\n18 Sale or supply\n\n19 Requirements for producers of ready‑to‑eat poultry meat\n\nClauses\n\n  \nDivision 1 – Preliminary\n\n1 Interpretation\n\n(1) Unless the contrary intention appears, and subject to Standard 4.1.1, the definitions in Chapter 3 of this Code apply in this Standard.\n\n(2) The definition of ‘condition’ in Standard 3.2.2 does not apply in this Standard.\n\n(3) In this Standard –\n\ncarcass means the whole dressed body of slaughtered poultry, but excludes any part that has been removed from the dressed body, for example, the head, feathers, viscera and blood.\n\nfood safety management statement means a statement, which at a minimum, has been approved or recognised by the relevant authority and subjected to ongoing verification activities by a poultry producer or poultry processor and the relevant authority.\n\nEditorial note:\n\n‘Authority’ is defined in draft Standard 4.1.1 as –\n\nthe State, Territory or Commonwealth agency or agencies having the legal authority to implement and enforce primary production and processing Standards.\n\npoultry means chicken, turkey, duck, squab (pigeons), geese, pheasants, quail, guinea fowl, muttonbirds and other avian species (except ratites).\n\npoultry handler means a person who handles or supervises the handling of poultry.\n\npoultry meat means the parts of the poultry carcass intended for human consumption.\n\npoultry producer means a business, enterprise or activity that involves –\n\n(a) growing; or\n\n(b) live transporting;\n\nof poultry for human consumption.\n\npoultry processor means a business, enterprise or activity that involves the processing or transporting of poultry product for human consumption.\n\npoultry product means the carcass of poultry, poultry meat or poultry meat product, as the case may be.\n\npremises means a poultry primary production or processing premises.\n\nprocessing of poultry or poultry product includes the –\n\n(a) holding before stunning; or\n\n(b) stunning; or\n\n(c) bleeding; or\n\n(d) scalding; or\n\n(e) defeathering; or\n\n(f) removing of head or feet; or\n\n(g) processing of feet; or\n\n(h) removing of viscera; or\n\n(i) processing of offal; or\n\n(j) trimming; or\n\n(k) washing; or\n\n(l) chilling: or\n\n(m) spin chilling; or\n\n(n) freezing; or\n\n(o) thawing; or\n\n(p) deboning or portioning; or\n\n(q) mincing or dicing; or\n\n(r) marinating; or\n\n(s) injecting or massaging; or\n\n(t) partial cooking; or\n\n(u) crumbing; or\n\n(v) packaging; or\n\n(w) storage, associated with processing;\n\nof poultry or poultry product, as the case may be, for human consumption.\n\nunsuitable means unsuitable as defined in Standard 3.1.1, but includes poultry or poultry product that is in a condition, or contains a substance a person would ordinarily regard as making the poultry, after processing, or poultry product unfit for human consumption.\n\nEditorial note:\n\n‘Suitable’ are defined in Standard 3.1.1. Clause 2 of Standard 3.1.1 provides –\n\nFood is not suitable if it –\n\n(a) is damaged, deteriorated or perished to an extent that affects its reasonable intended use; or\n\n(b) contains any damaged, deteriorated or perished substance that affects its reasonable intended use; or\n\n(c) is the product of a diseased animal or an animal that has died otherwise than by slaughter, and has not been declared by or under another Act to be safe for human consumption; or\n\n(d) contains a biological or chemical agent, or other matter or substance, that is foreign to the nature of the food.\n\nHowever, food is not unsuitable for the purposes of the Food Safety Standards merely because –\n\n(a) it contains an agricultural or veterinary chemical in an amount that does not contravene the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code; or\n\n(b) it contains a metal or non‑metal contaminant (within the meaning of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code) in an amount that does not contravene the permitted level for the contaminant as specified in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code; or\n\n(c) it contains any matter or substance that is permitted by the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.\n\n2 Application\n\nThis Standard does not apply to poultry retail sale activities or poultry product retail sale activities.\n\nDivision 2 – Primary production of poultry\n\n3 General food safety management\n\n(1) A poultry producer must systematically examine all of its primary production operations to identify potential hazards and implement control measures to address those hazards.\n\n(2) A poultry producer must also have evidence to show that a systematic examination has been undertaken and that control measures for those identified hazards have been implemented.\n\n(3) A poultry producer must operate according to a food safety management statement that sets out how the requirements of this Division are to be or are being complied with.\n\n4 Inputs\n\nA poultry producer must take all reasonable measures to ensure inputs do not make the poultry unsuitable.\n\nEditorial note:\n\nSee the definition of ‘inputs’ in Standard 4.1.1 which includes feed, litter, water and chemicals used in or in connection with the primary production activity.\n\n5 Waste disposal\n\n(1) A poultry producer must store, handle or dispose of waste in a manner that will not make the poultry unsuitable.\n\n(2) For subclause 5(1), waste includes sewage, waste water, litter, dead poultry and garbage.\n\n6 Health and hygiene requirements\n\n(1) A poultry handler must exercise personal hygiene and health practices that do not make the poultry unsuitable.\n\n(2) A poultry producer must take all reasonable measures to ensure that poultry handlers, personnel and visitors exercise personal hygiene and health practices that do not make the poultry unsuitable.\n\n7 Skills and knowledge\n\nA poultry producer must ensure that poultry handlers have –\n\n(a) skills in food safety and food hygiene; and\n\n(b) knowledge of food safety and food hygiene matters;\n\ncommensurate with their work.\n\n8 Design, construction and maintenance of premises, equipment and transportation vehicles\n\nA poultry producer must –\n\n(a) ensure that premises, equipment and transportation vehicles are designed and constructed in a way that minimises the contamination of poultry, allows for effective cleaning and sanitisation and minimises the harbourage of pests and vermin; and\n\n(b) keep premises, equipment and transportation vehicles effectively cleaned, sanitised and in good repair to ensure poultry is not made unsuitable.\n\n9 Traceability\n\nA poultry producer must be able to identify the immediate recipient of the poultry handled by the poultry producer.\n\n10 Sale or supply of poultry\n\nA poultry producer must not sell or supply poultry for human consumption if the producer ought reasonably know or ought reasonably suspect that the poultry is unsuitable.\n\nEditorial note:\n\n‘Supply’ is defined in Standard 4.1.1 as including intra company transfers of product.\n\nDivision 3 – Processing of poultry\n\n11 Application\n\n(1) Subject to subclause (2), and to avoid doubt, Standards 3.2.2 and 3.2.3 apply to a poultry processor.\n\n(2) In areas where poultry is slaughtered –\n\n(a) paragraph 17(1)(d) of Standard 3.2.2 does not apply; and\n\n(b) paragraph 24(1)(a) of Standard 3.2.2 does not apply in relation to the poultry intended for slaughter.\n\n12 General food safety management\n\n(1) A poultry processor must systematically examine all of its processing operations to identify potential hazards and implement control measures to address those hazards.\n\n(2) A poultry processor must also have evidence to show that a systematic examination has been undertaken and that control measures for those identified hazards have been implemented.\n\n(3) A poultry processor must verify the effectiveness of the control measures.\n\n(4) A poultry processor must operate according to a food safety management statement that sets out how the requirements of this Division are to be or are being complied with.\n\n13 Receiving\n\nA poultry processor must not process poultry product for human consumption if the processor ought reasonably know or ought reasonably suspect that the poultry product is unsuitable.\n\n14 Inputs\n\nA poultry processor must take all reasonable measures to ensure inputs do not make the poultry product unsuitable.\n\nEditorial note:\n\nSee Standard 4.1.1 for the definition of ‘inputs’.\n\nFor guidance on what constitutes acceptable water in processing see the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines 2011 of the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.\n\n15 Waste disposal\n\n(1) A poultry processor must store, handle or dispose of waste in a manner that will not make the poultry product unsuitable.\n\n(2) For subclause 15(1), waste includes unsuitable poultry and unsuitable poultry product, sewage, waste water and garbage.\n\n16 Skills and knowledge\n\nA poultry processor must ensure that persons engaged in poultry processing have –\n\n(a) skills in food safety and food hygiene; and\n\n(b) knowledge of food safety and food hygiene matters; and\n\n(c) skills and knowledge to detect a condition that would render poultry or poultry product unsuitable;\n\ncommensurate with their work.\n\n17 Traceability\n\nA poultry processor must ensure that it can identify the immediate supplier and immediate recipient of poultry product handled by the poultry processing business.\n\n18 Sale or supply\n\nA poultry processor must not sell or supply poultry product for human consumption if the processor ought reasonably know or ought reasonably suspect that the poultry product is unsuitable.\n\nEditorial note:\n\nSee Standard 1.3.3 for requirements relating to the use of water as a processing aid.\n\nSee Standard 1.2.4 for labelling requirements where water is an ingredient in the final poultry product at a level of 5% or more.\n\n19 Requirements for producers of ready‑to‑eat poultry meat\n\nDivision 3 of Standard 4.2.3 applies to the producers of ready‑to‑eat poultry meat.\n\nAmendment History\n\nThe Amendment History provides information about each amendment to the Standard. The information includes commencement or cessation information for relevant amendments.\n\nThese amendments are made under section 92 of the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991 unless otherwise indicated. Amendments do not have a specific date for cessation unless indicated as such.\n\nAbout this compilation\n\nThis is compilation No. 1 of Standard 4.2.2 as in force on 19 July 2023 (up to Amendment No. 220). It includes any commenced amendment affecting the compilation to that date.\n\nPrepared by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel, Canberra.\n\nUncommenced amendments or provisions ceasing to have effect\n\nTo assist stakeholders, the effect of any uncommenced amendments or provisions which will cease to have effect, may be reflected in the Standard as shaded boxed text with the relevant commencement or cessation date. These amendments will be reflected in a compilation registered on the Federal Register of Legislation including or omitting those amendments and provided in the Amendment History once the date is passed.\n\nThe following abbreviations may be used in the table below:\n\nad = added or inserted am = amended\n\nexp = expired or ceased to have effect rep = repealed\n\nrs = repealed and substituted\n\nStandard 4.2.2 was published in the Food Standards Gazette No. FSC58 on 20 May 2010 as part of Amendment No. 116 (F2010L01310 — 20 May 2010). It was registered as a principal instrument on 14 February 2012 (F2012L00292) and has been amended as follows:\n\n| Section affected | A’ment No. | FRL registrationGazette                   | Commencement(Cessation) | How affected | Description of amendment           |\n| ---------------- | ---------- | ----------------------------------------- | ----------------------- | ------------ | ---------------------------------- |\n| 4.2.2—14         | 220        | F2023L0100411 July 2023FSC16019 July 2023 | 19 July 2023            | am           | Amend editorial note to clause 14. |","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation appears to maintain its original scope as a primary production and processing standard for poultry meat. The amendment history shows only minor editorial changes (specifically to the editorial note in clause 14 regarding water guidelines). The standard continues to cover the intended regulatory territory from farm to processing facility, excluding retail as originally designed."},"complexity_factors":["Moderate cross-referencing: The standard relies heavily on definitions from Chapter 3, Standard 3.1.1, Standard 3.2.2, Standard 3.2.3, and Standard 4.1.1, requiring readers to consult multiple documents","13 defined terms in the interpretation section, some with nested definitions (e.g., 'processing' includes 23 distinct activities)","Conditional application clauses: Clause 11 creates exceptions to Standards 3.2.2 and 3.2.3 for slaughter areas","Incorporation by reference: The standard references external documents like the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines 2011","Dual structure with overlapping but distinct requirements for producers (Division 2) and processors (Division 3)","Editorial notes scattered throughout that provide guidance but create visual clutter and potential confusion about binding vs non-binding text"],"plain_english_summary":"This standard sets mandatory food‑safety rules for businesses that raise, transport, slaughter and process poultry (chickens, turkeys, ducks and other birds) in Australia. It requires producers and processors to identify risks, implement and document controls and traceability, train staff, keep premises clean, and prevent unsafe birds entering the food chain.\n\nIt targets reducing Campylobacter and Salmonella contamination and does not apply to retail sales to consumers."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":5,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Standard applies to primary production and processing of poultry for human consumption in Australia and expressly excludes poultry retail sale activities (cl.2). The text supplied shows no substantive expansion or narrowing of that scope; the listed amendment (Amendment No. 220) only amends an editorial note to clause 14 and does not alter the stated application or the Division structure (Amendment History)."},"complexity_factors":["Extensive cross‑references to other Standards and external guidance increase interpretive burden (see cl.1(1), cl.11(1) and editorial notes referring to Standards 4.1.1, 3.2.2, 1.3.3 and the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines).","Multiple defined terms and bespoke definitions create dependency on definitional interpretation (cl.1: carcass, poultry, poultry producer, poultry processor, food safety management statement).","Two related but distinct regulatory regimes for primary producers and processors require different actions and verification (Division 2: cl.3–10 vs Division 3: cl.11–19).","Obligation to have, verify and retain evidence of a systematic hazard analysis and control measures increases recordkeeping and audit readiness (producers: cl.3(1)–(3); processors: cl.12(1)–(4)).","Requirement that food safety management statements be approved/recognised by the relevant authority creates administrative interaction and potential discretionary decision‑points (definition of food safety management statement; editorial note on ‘Authority’ in cl.1).","Objective ‘ought reasonably know or suspect’ standard for sale/supply imposes an evidential/compliance risk and judgment on operators (cl.10; cl.13; cl.18).","Traceability requirement to immediate supplier and recipient imposes specific supply‑chain record obligations (producer: cl.9; processor: cl.17).","Operational prescriptions cover premises design, transport, inputs, waste disposal, skills and hygiene, expanding practical compliance tasks across the business (cl.4–8; cl.14–16).","Specific carve‑outs and exceptions for slaughter areas create context‑sensitive rules that must be reconciled with general food safety clauses (cl.11(2)).","Amendment and compilation history and editorial notes require users to check commenced amendments for precise obligations (Amendment History; editorial notes such as cl.14 note)."],"plain_english_summary":"This Standard sets mandatory food‑safety duties for Australian poultry producers and processors (not retailers). It requires systematic hazard identification, control measures, documented and authority‑recognised food safety management statements, traceability to immediate suppliers/recipients, hygiene and premises standards, and verification evidence. The stated aim is to reduce Campylobacter and Salmonella contamination. Who pays and acts: producers/processors must implement controls, keep evidence and refuse to supply unsuitable product; regulators approve or recognise management statements and enforce compliance."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/australia-new-zealand-food-standards-code-standard-4-2-2-primary-production-and-processing-standard-","history":"/api/acts/australia-new-zealand-food-standards-code-standard-4-2-2-primary-production-and-processing-standard-/history","analysis":"/api/acts/australia-new-zealand-food-standards-code-standard-4-2-2-primary-production-and-processing-standard-/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/australia-new-zealand-food-standards-code-standard-4-2-2-primary-production-and-processing-standard-/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/australia-new-zealand-food-standards-code-standard-4-2-2-primary-production-and-processing-standard-/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/australia-new-zealand-food-standards-code-standard-4-2-2-primary-production-and-processing-standard-/documents"}}