A.MIN.0130 Meat Inspection and Quality Assurance network

Summary

​MINTRAC again facilitated fourteen Quality Assurance Managers’ Network meetings during 2012-2013 attended by representatives of 114 different organisations including fifty eight different meat processing companies, nine different regulatory bodies, eight industry associations, four research agencies, fifteen registered training organisations and twenty four companies directly servicing the industry.
The agendas for these meetings covered a range of industry research and development outcomes mainly focusing on sources of micro contamination, micro sampling/testing and meat quality. Animal welfare again featured prominently and the network assisted companies to:developing strategies to address new AW regulatory requirements 
access funding to address new regulatory requirements for both export and domestic companiesdeliver training to key company staff.

In addition, a wide range of state and commonwealth government policy changes impacting the meat industry were addressed through the networks. 
The ninth annual Meat Inspection and Quality Assurance Conference was held in Brisbane in September 2012. The conference attracted one hundred and five delegates who came from all the States and Territories. Speakers addressed a range of topics from micro contamination, HACCP reviews, animal welfare, and meat science. Many of the workshops presented findings from current industry projects or research. The conference included delegate workshops where participants considered the implications of changes to the meat safety course, how to assess livestock handling and how to train the increasing numbers of back packers.
The recommendations provided in Section 7 of this report focus on using the QA network system to assist industry in addressing some of the major challenges the industry will face in the near future including:meeting the requirements of importing countries
responding to likely changes in the Australian Export Meat Inspection System
developing a continuous improvement approach to animal welfare outcomes 
responding to the changing nature of the meat industry’s workforce.