Commercial Fishing Boat - Producer
If you catch seafood and undertake activities such as gutting, gilling, filleting and/or cooking onboard a commercial fishing boat then you require an accreditation with Safe Food Production Queensland (Safe Food).
These activities are classified as Producing under the Seafood Scheme of the Food Production (Safety) Regulation 2014.
Note: A Safe Food accreditation is required for commercial fishing activities conducted in Queensland, regardless of whether you are export registered and only exporting product overseas.
Other accreditations you may need
If you are only catching live or whole, green seafood (but do not process onboard your boat), please refer to information about Wild Animal Harvesting.
What should I submit with my application?
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Application form
Complete the Application form and select Producing (seafood scheme, commercial fishing boat) as your activity on page 2. Please also include your boat mark.
Note: If you want to complete this form on your mobile or desktop, please download or save it first.
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Payment of fees
Fees and payment details can be viewed within the application form.
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Management Statement
A management statement is a concise way of documenting how your business intends to operate and what activities you intend to undertake. It should be written by you (the applicant) in your own words.
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Lease agreement (if applicable)
If you don’t own a boat mark and are leasing one from somebody else, you must submit a copy of your lease agreement. This can be submitted in any format, including a Word document, so long as it includes:
- names of both parties (lessee and lessor)
- boat marks that are being leased
- start and end dates of the lease
- signed by the boat mark owner
Note: if you have multiple lease agreements with multiple parties, you must submit a separate lease agreement for each.
Submit your completed application to applications@safefood.qld.gov.au or PO Box 221, Greenslopes, Brisbane, QLD 4120.
When to apply
Under the Food Production (Safety) Act 2000, it is unlawful to engage in certain activities relating to primary production or processing of food until you have been granted an accreditation by Safe Food. As such, you should allow adequate time for your application to be reviewed by Safe Food before you begin operating.
Your application will aim to be assessed within 14 days, although applications submitted in their entirety (with all the items outlined above) are likely to be processed faster.
Upon submission of your application, a member of our Central Assessment Team will contact you for payment (if paying by credit card). Once payment has been received, your application will be assessed, and we will contact you if we require any further information.
You will be notified in writing about the outcome of your application (approved or refused).
Fees
Fees are based on the activities you are carrying out and are outlined in the Application form.
Please note that new applications will incur a one-time application fee that is non-refundable.
Our accreditation period runs from 1st January – 31st December*. You will therefore need to renew your accreditation on an annual basis.
For more information, please refer to our fees & charges.
*Our fees are not pro-rata.
FSANZ
Food Safety Standards (Chapter 3 of the Food Standards Code)
Food Regulation Secretariat
Federal Register of Legislation
Safe Seafood Australia – a guide to the Australian Primary Production and Processing Standard for Seafood
NATA Laboratories
Department of Agriculture and Fisheries