Pilot of risk-based MHA 3: Process monitoring and analysis

07 January 2026
Focus area: Food safety
Program stream: Product & process integrity
Project number: 2025-1092

The revised MHA 3: Process Monitoring and Analysis system was tested to see if it could help meat plants focus their checks on the highest‑risk parts of production. Eight export establishments took part, comparing how things worked before and after the new system.

Across all areas of the plants, more than three million checks were recorded. Even though the new system reduced how often low‑risk tasks were checked, it actually found more issues when they did occur. Nothing in the trial suggested the system shouldn’t be implemented across the Australian meat industry.

Feedback from staff was positive and supportive of industry-wide implementation. Further discussions with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Export Meat Industry Advisory Council will continue to decide rollout and adoption.

Previous in this focus area 05 January 2026 Sheep EID identification technology assessment continued Next in this focus area 31 October 2025 Review of value propositions for a hyperspectral image analysis solution in red meat supply chains