About FSANZ

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is an independent statutory agency established by the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991.  Working within an integrated food regulatory system involving the governments of Australia and the New Zealand Government, we set food standards for the two countries.  FSANZ is part of the Australian Government’s Health and Ageing portfolio.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health has executive responsibility for FSANZ.

Our ultimate goal is:A safe food supply and well-informed consumers.  FSANZ develops food standards, and joint codes of practice with industry, covering the content and labelling of food sold in Australia and New Zealand. In addition,  we develop Australia-only food standards that address food safety issues – including requirements for primary production – and maximum residue limits for agricultural and veterinary drug residues.

We also undertake a range of other functions in Australia, such as national coordination of food surveillance and food recall systems, providing food handling advice to consumers, conducting research and supporting the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service in the control of imported foods;

To achieve broad community support for our work and public confidence in our regulatory decisions, we maintain collaborative arrangements with our regulatory partners and with primary producers and processors, manufacturers, retailers, consumer organisations, public health bodies and other stakeholder groups.

FSANZ develops food standards, and joint codes of practice with industry, covering the content and labelling of food sold in Australia and New Zealand. Food standards provide the minimum regulatory burden necessary to maintain a safe food supply and informed consumers.  In addition, the agency develops Australia-only food standards that address food safety issues – including requirements for primary production – and maximum residue limits for agricultural and veterinary drug residues.

How we develop food standards

To do business in Australia and New Zealand, food companies and retailers must comply with food standards (regulations) in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. Food standards are legal requirements; non-compliance can attract penalties.

The trigger for the development of, or amendment to, a food standard can be an Application submitted by an outside body (usually a food business), a Proposal raised by FSANZ itself or policy advice issued by the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council.

The standard development process involves an evaluation of the risk to public health of the proposed change to the Code and the impact of the regulatory measures on the food industry and our international trading obligations.   We then draft a legal standard for public comment. There may be one or more periods of public consultation for each standard.

Finally, the draft standard is considered for approval by the FSANZ Board and, if the Ministerial Council does not request a review of the decision within 60 days, we gazette (publish) the standard as law.

How we’re organised

FSANZ is a small agency, with offices in Canberra and Wellington, New Zealand.Our 146 employees are members of the Australian Public Service, including sixteen people employed in New Zealand. We are governed by a Board with a wide range of expertise and experience in food matters, with members drawn from Australia and New Zealand . We are organised into five Branches

Key Strategic Directions

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has a well-developed system for establishing objectives and priorities.  At the highest level, we have the objectives contained in the FSANZ Act and the policy guidelines issues by the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council.Beneath this tier lies the goals and performance measures set by the FSANZ Board. [ more ]

Functions

Our achievements of are documented in the Annual Report . We have also developed a Corporate Plan,which outlines key directions for the organisation for the next three years. We use environmental scanning as a key input to its planning process.Our Service Charter outlines our role and service commitment and identifies our clients, partners and stakeholders.  Feedback and Complaints outlines the Food Standards Australia New Zealand feedback and complaints mechanisms available to clients, partners and stakeholders.

The Ministerial Council

The Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council (ANZFRMC) set policy guidelines for the development of food standards by Food Standards Australia New Zealand. It will do this based on advice from the Food Regulation Standing Committee, which comprises senior government officials from the Commonwealth, New Zealand, the States and the Territories. The Ministerial Council will also consult with stakeholders on the development of policy guidelines. FSANZ is an observer at the Ministerial Council meetings.[ more .. ]

The Board

The Food Standards Australia New Zealand Board consists of twelve members. The Members of the Board have been drawn from specialist areas. The outcomes of Board meetings are summarised in the Summary of  Key Outcomes.   [ more..]

Scientific Capabilities

Food Standards Australia New Zealand’s (FSANZ) mission is to protect, in collaboration with others, the health and safety of people in Australia and New Zealand through the maintenance of a safe food supply. This mission is achieved by establishing food standards that are based on risk analysis using the best available scientific evidence. The successful application of science, including social science, is critical to the effectiveness and appropriateness of most food regulatory measures, and underpins the risk management decision making process. [more]

Consultation Processes

Consultation with the community is an essential part of FSANZ's decision-making process. The necessity for consultation on food standards is reflected in FSANZ's guiding legislation that prescribes consultation as a key facet of the standards development process itself. [ more..]

Regulatory Decision making processes

FSANZ's decision-making framework for standards development is complex. It is firmly based on the legislative requirements of the FSANZ Act, but also incorporates the requirements of government policies and international treaties, including the need to analyse the economic and social impacts of regulatory decisions. Our decision-making framework also builds on the accepted risk analysis practices of the international food standards body, the Codex Alimentarius Commission , and the risk management practices elaborated in the Australian/New Zealand Standard for Risk Management (AS/NZS 4360:1995). More detail can be found here [ more.. ]