Independent Employer of AAOs Accreditation Scheme
The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (the department) is currently consulting with industry leaders to implement a policy enabling the full uptake of the Australian Government Authorised Officer (AAO) model across all export meat establishments. On 27 November the department begun direct engagement with impacted export establishments on this change. Policies on this website will be updated once this engagement process has concluded.
In brief, the forward policy will see the department no longer providing Food Safety Meat Assessors (FSMAs) where the function could otherwise be provided through the use of AAOs. Instead the department will only continue to provide a government veterinarian and a FSMA who will undertake the final disposition of product at each export meat establishment in accordance with market access requirements (e.g. USA).
Fact sheets and information herein reflect the current policy and will be updated once the new policy is finalised.
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What is Accreditation?
Accreditation is a formal, third party endorsement by a national accreditation body of an organisation’s competence, credibility, independence and integrity to perform specific activities. It provides a means to identify a proven, competent evaluator so that the selection of a particular organisation is an informed choice. National accreditation means the organisation can demonstrate to its customer that it has been successful at meeting the requirements of international accreditation standards.
Using the accredited route has the advantage of a single transparent and repeatable approach. Over time this should improve consistency, resulting in better risk management. It provides an alternative means of ensuring the reliability of activities that have the potential to impact on public confidence or the national reputation.
Accreditation by national accreditation bodies such as JAS-ANZ and NATA in Australia means that these evaluating organisations have been assessed against internationally recognised standards to demonstrate their competence, impartiality and performance capability.
The Independent Employer of AAOs Accreditation Scheme
Is a scheme developed by the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment to provide for the employment of Australian Government Authorised Officers (AAOs) by independent employment providers. Under the scheme, agencies will supply AAOs to Australian export slaughter establishments to meet EU standards.
The scheme applies to inspectors undertaking on line post mortem inspection on EU plants. The scheme will be certified against ISO/IEC 17020:2012, by engaging Australian registered national accreditation bodies to evaluate independent employers of AAOs as a means of increasing overseas competent authority confidence.
For the EU market, AAOs must be employed by an independent AAO employer approved by the department to supply AAOs.
Documents you need
Document links
- Fact sheet - Independent AAO Employer
- Fact sheet - Abattoir Owner or Operator
- Fact sheet - AAO
- Information about the Australian Government Authorised Officer application process
- Appointment and use of non-departmental authorised officers policy
- Independent Employer of AAOs Accreditation Scheme (Export Meat and Meat Products)
- Australian Export Meat Inspection System Information Package
- Application to change details of an AAO
Training material
- Department Instructional Material and performance standards (password protected)*
*materials and standards are available on a password protected site to conditionally approved and approved independent AAO employers, national accreditation bodies and MINTRAC.
Information contained within each document
To assist you locating information on certain requirements, the following table identifies requirements against each of the relevant documents referenced (marked with an ‘✗’) above.
| Item | Authorised Officer Policy | Independent Employer of AAOs Accreditation Scheme | Fact Sheet for IAEs | Fact Sheet for Abattoir owners/ operators |
Fact Sheet for AAOs | AEMIS Information Package | Information on AAO Application Process | Instructional Material on sharepoint link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Timeframe to implement Independent AAO Employer Model | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ||||
| Options to meet EU listing requirements | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | |||||
| Meat inspection activities | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | |
| AAO employment restrictions | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | |||
| Impartiality of IAE | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | |||||
| AAO Models | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
Approved Independent AAO Employer Schedules
To view the scope of approval of an organisation that has applied to be approved as an Independent AAO Employer, click on the Notice of Determination tab for that company.
Only organisations with a type A accreditation against ISO/IEC 17020:2012 will be considered by the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment to provide a resource pool of AAOs to export registered abattoirs which have EU listing (i.e. the organisation shall meet the criteria of ISO/IEC 17020:2012 annex A.1 (normative). Users should contact the organisation for specific details of the accredited scope.
If 'suspended' is shown against an organisation's name, please refer to that organisation for further details.
Approved Independent AAO Employer Bodies to ISO/IEC 17020
| Date Issued | Company Name | Status of determination | Notice of Determination |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18.02.2020 | Meat Inspectors Pty Ltd | Approved | Notice PDF  [111 KB] |
| 19.05.2020 | Eville and Jones Food Safety Operations Pty Ltd | Approved | Notice PDF [109 KB] |
| 10.02.2020 | Labour Solutions Pty Ltd | Approved | Notice PDF [107 KB] |
| 28.10.2019 | ATC Work Smart Inc | Approved | Notice PDF [110 KB] |
| 11.08.2020 | Reserve Support Services Pty Limited | Approved | Notice PDF [107 KB] |
| 26.03.2021 | Meat Safety Australia | Conditional | Notice PDF [147 KB] |