The Ministry for Primary Industries admitted that despite a tripling in New Zealand's trade with China over the past five years, it did not have anywhere near enough staff in the ministry nor in China to cope with that escalating trade relationship.
In April and May this year, $100 million worth of meat sat on wharves in China because of repeated mistakes by MPI over its name change on export certificates.
A partly censored report on a review into the blunder was released on Thursday.
It showed officials did not anticipate how big the problem was going to be, did not react fast enough once they did realise its scale, gave assurances about the problem that were incorrect and failed to tell ministers about it - even after meat companies in New Zealand had halted processing and loading of meat to China.
The ministry's acting director-general, Scott Gallacher, said it is clear that officials need to lift their game. MPI is now looking for suitably qualified people to stop a repeat of such an embarrassment.
The meat industry is anxious for MPI to put things right as fast as possible and is concerned that it could take a year to put all the proposed changes in place.
Meat Industry Association chief executive Tim Ritchie said on Friday it had earlier raised concerns with the ministry about its lack of resources for coping with the surge in the China trade.
Tim Ritchie said MPI's mistakes threaten its high international reputation as a trade regulator, which exporters also rely on.
