SIXTY-NINTH MEETING
Adelaide
1-2 August 2001
SUMMARY OF KEY OUTCOMES
Recommendations relating to Food Standards matters
The ANZFA Board has responsibility under the Australia New Zealand Food Authority Act 1991 to consider standards matters and make recommendations to members of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Council (which is composed of Health Ministers from the Commonwealth, States, Territories and New Zealand, as Lead Ministers, as well as a number of other participating Ministers nominated by each jurisdiction, under the Food Standards Agreement signed in November 2000) to amend the Food Standards Code. The Ministers consider the recommendations from the Board and decisions are determined by majority vote, before the Code can be amended. Ministers can reject the recommendation if they so wish, or amend it, or return the recommendation to the Board for reconsideration.
Proposal P243 - Chloropropanols in soy and oyster sauces
In response to a recent survey conducted by the UK Food Standards Agency which identified a number of soy sauces which contained chloropropanols, the Board agreed to raise a new proposal to amend the Food Standards Code to provide for maximum levels of chloropropanol compounds. The Board is progressing this as a matter of urgency under section 37 of the ANZFA Act based on the protection of public health and safety, as the chloropropanol compound 3-MCPD found in theses sauces is a recognised genotoxic carcinogen.
One round of public consultation on ANZFA' s proposal will be held, before the Board makes a recommendation to ANZFSC.
ANZFA is also currently undertaking a survey on chloropropanol levels in a range of soy and oyster sauces available in Australia and New Zealand and these data will be publicly released as soon as it is available. Regular surveys will continue to be carried out in the future.
Applications A409 - MRLs & A411 - MRLs
The Board considered the Full Assessment Report for two Applications relating to maximum residue limits for a number of chemicals. As the Board considers the changes to be of minor significance and complexity, only one round of public consultation need occur, and as this has now been completed, the proposed draft variations to theFood Standards Code will now be recommended to Ministers for adoption.
Proposal P245 - Omnibus amendments
The Board agreed to raise a new proposal to correct a number of typographical, formatting and grammatical errors which have been discovered in the new Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code(known as Volume 2 of the Food Standards Code) as well as clarifying the intent in a number of Standards.
Work on five further new proposals (including Proposal P246 - Code Labelling Amendments) will also commence dealing with more substantive issues in Volume 2 which have come to light in the last few months, and which need to be addressed to provide further clarity. The Proposals will be released in the near future for public consultation.
Stock in trade (New Proposals)
The Board agreed to raise two new Proposals relating to stock in trade - one relates specifically to food affected by the commencement of the GM labelling provisions in December 2001 (P249 - Stock in trade for GM Food) and one for food which will be affected at the time Volume 2 of the Food Standards Code becomes the sole Code in Australia and New Zealand (P248 - Stock in trade for Volume 2). Those initiatives, if adopted by Ministers, will allow the continued sale of foods after the commencement dates for the new Standards, provided those foods were manufactured and imported before those dates. The stock in trade measures are proposed to apply for only a 12 month period after the respective commencement dates.
The Proposals will be released in the near future for public consultation.
New Proposal - Finalising the Code' s transition
To conclude the transitional arrangements which are in place until December 2002, at which time the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (known as Volume 2 of the Food Standards Code) will become the sole Code in Australia and New Zealand, a new Proposal has been agreed to by the Board. The Proposal will be released in the near future for public consultation.
Proposal P244 - Folate health claim pilot - Deletion of approved products
The Board agreed to raise a new proposal to consider the removal of a number of foods from the table of products which are permitted to carry a folate/neural tube defect health claim. The products concerned no longer contain the required minimum folate per serve. The Proposal will be released in the near future for one round of public consultation only, as the Board has agreed to ' fast-tracking' the Proposal under s.36 of the Act.
Proposal P217 - Uncooked fermented meat
On 24 March 2000, Health Ministers adopted an amendment to theFood Standards Code which clarified what constituted a cooked meat product by defining the timing and conditions of cooking. The amendment was gazetted on 27 April 2000.
Having progressed P217 as a matter of urgency under section 37 of the ANZFA Act, based on the protection of public health and safety, the Board was then required to carry out public consultation on the matter. This has now been completed and the Board approved the Inquiry Report, endorsing its original recommendation to Ministers.
New Proposal - The development of a code of practice for health and related claims
The Ministerial Council has deferred making a decision on the Board' s recommendation on health and related claims (Proposal P153- Health and related claims) and agreed that the Food Regulation Standing Committee, which is a committee of senior officials from the Commonwealth, New Zealand, States and Territories, develop a policy framework for health and nutritional claims for further consideration by Ministers.
As part of a comprehensive management framework for health and related claims, the Board has agreed to a new proposal for the development of a code of practice to assist in the application and enforcement of the standard and rigorous scientific substantiation. ANZFA is also continuing work on the development of guidelines for applications and the scientific substantiation of health claims.
Proposal P236 - Review of Sports Foods
The Board considered an issues paper (Initial Assessment Report) relating to the development of an Australian and New Zealand Standard for sports foods. External advisory group meetings have already been held with key stakeholder groups to discuss current issues with sports foods and these have been incorporated into the paper. The Paper will be released in the near future for public consultation.
Proposal P239 - Listeria risk assessment and risk management strategy
As part of its ongoing consideration of the assessment and management of the risk associated with Listeria, the Board has agreed to the preparation of a new Proposal to conduct a review of microbiological standards for Listeria monocytogenes in selected dairy foods and seafood. An issues paper agreed to by the Board will be released in the near future for public consultation.
Other matters
Community Forum
A community forum was held in association with the Board meeting, which was held in Adelaide. Almost forty people from a wide range of backgrounds including community and public health bodies, industry and academia attended the forum. A number of issues were raised with the Board and senior ANZFA staff, including food safety, community consultation, consumer issues and the implementation of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.
Codes of Practice
The Board considered a draft paper which has been developed to provide staff and stakeholders with a framework to assist in determining how and when codes of practice should be developed. The paper A Framework for the Use of Codes of Practice to support the Australia New Zealand Food Standards System will be released for consultation the near future.
Board Charter
The Board considered and endorsed a document which sets out the Board' s corporate governance responsibilities. The Charter will be available shortly on the ANZFA website.
Improving ANZFA' s processes
The Board was updated on progress with the improvement of processes for the assessment of applications and proposals. These include major changes to document structures and improved arrangements for community involvement in ANZFA' s activities. Greater emphasis will be given to the cost/benefit analysis as part of ANZFA' s regulation impact assessment of standards development and the maintenance and enhancement of ANZFA's scientific credibility.
In addition, the public will see particular changes to assessment process terminology and a simpler report structure which guides readers through the decision-making process. Further information on this initiative will be made available shortly.
Public Affairs issues
The Board considered a number of issues relating to the 2001 publication program (which will include a number of occasional papers, the first being on GM foods and the consumer), the upgraded ANZFA website, the 2000-2001 Annual Report which will be tabled in the Commonwealth Parliament in mid-October, and consumer education on food labelling.