Labour says a documentation wrangle that resulted in New Zealand meat being held up at the Chinese border, shows that merging the Food Safety Authority into the Ministry for Primary Industries has failed.
Primary Industries Minister, Nathan Guy says new papers have been sent to officials in China and the meat will begin to be processed next week.
Mr Guy on Thursday blamed the problem on ministry officials.
Labour's primary industries spokesperson Damien O'Connor said New Zealand's food certification authority needs to be separate from the Ministry for Primary Industries.
He said the loss of experienced staff during the recent restructuring has led to the confusion.