Every supplement manufacturer’s website says “GMP”. Very few founders know what the letters actually commit anyone to — or how to tell a certified claim from a decorative one. This guide covers what GMP-NZ certification means, how it fits with MPI registration, and a ten-minute verification routine you can run on any manufacturer, including us.
General information, not regulatory advice. Certification standards and food-safety requirements evolve — confirm current requirements for your product category with MPI or a regulatory consultant.
What GMP actually is
Good Manufacturing Practice is a quality-management discipline for how products get made. A GMP-NZ certificate issued against a recognised standard (ours is assessed against the Codex Alimentarius General Principles of Food Hygiene, CXC 1-1969, Rev. 5) covers things like:
- Facility design and sanitation — the building and workflows themselves
- Equipment calibration and maintenance — measured means measured
- Personnel training and hygiene — documented, not assumed
- Documented processes and batch records — every ingredient, weight and step traceable
- Quality control and release procedures — how a batch earns the right to ship
Two things GMP is not: it’s not a product endorsement (it certifies systems, not the merits of any product), and it’s not permanent (certificates have validity windows and surveillance audits — an expired certificate is a lapsed claim).
GMP vs MPI registration: two different checks
New Zealand manufacturers of supplement-type foods typically operate under Food Act 2014 registration — for higher-risk manufacturing activities, that’s commonly a National Programme Level 3 (NP3) registration, verified by a recognised body such as AsureQuality. That’s the regulatory layer: it’s about meeting NZ food-safety law for the registered activities.
GMP certification sits alongside it as an audited quality standard — typically voluntary, issued by an independent certification body such as SGS, and maintained through surveillance audits.
The useful mental model:
| Layer | What it is | Who checks it |
|---|---|---|
| MPI NP3 registration | Food-safety registration under the Food Act 2014 | Recognised verifier (e.g. AsureQuality) |
| GMP-NZ certification | Audited manufacturing quality systems | Independent certifier (e.g. SGS) |
A manufacturer holding both, verified by two different independent bodies, has had its systems checked twice by parties with no stake in the answer. That double-verification is worth more than any number of website badges.
One more distinction that matters: these registrations attach to specific facilities and activities. A certificate for one site doesn’t automatically cover a second site, and a scope covering powder blending doesn’t automatically cover other activities. Reading the scope line is not pedantry — it’s the whole point.
Self-declared vs independently verified
The single most useful question in manufacturer diligence: who says so?
- “We follow GMP principles” — a self-description. Possibly true. Nobody checked.
- “GMP certified” with no number, issuer or date — a claim wearing a certificate’s clothes.
- “GMP-NZ certified by SGS, certificate NZ25/00000030, valid to 21 March 2027” — a verifiable statement. You can check it without trusting anyone.
The same logic applies to every credential on a manufacturer’s site — MPI registrations, export registrations, facility registrations. If it can’t be verified, it’s marketing.
The ten-minute verification routine
Run this on any manufacturer you’re considering:
- Collect the claims. List every certification and registration on their website.
- Demand the three facts for each: certificate/registration number, issuing body, validity dates. A credible manufacturer publishes these or hands them over instantly.
- Read the scope. Does the certificate cover the activities you need, at the facility that will make your product?
- Check the dates. Lapsed happens — what matters is whether the manufacturer is honest about it. (A manufacturer that openly flags a registration as “renewal in progress” is showing you how they handle inconvenient facts.)
- Verify with the issuer if anything smells off — certification bodies confirm certificate status.
- Ask what ships with each batch. Batch records and a certificate of analysis should be the default answer, without hesitation.
Red flags worth walking away from
- Certification claims with no numbers, ever, even when asked
- “FDA approved” or “FDA certified” facility claims — the FDA registers food facilities; it does not approve or certify them, and anyone claiming otherwise is telling you they’ll bend words for you too
- Vague answers about which site holds which certification
- No mention of batch documentation until you ask, then hedging
What this means when you choose a manufacturer
Certificates don’t make products good — systems do, and certificates are the auditable evidence that systems exist. So collect the numbers, read the scopes, check the dates, and prefer manufacturers who make verification easy. Ours are published, with PDFs, numbers and scopes, on our certifications page — because “verify us yourself” is the only quality claim that doesn’t require trust.