Out-of-Session - May 2002
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 to amend the Food Standards Code. The Council 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. 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.
NOTE: Prior to the full entry into force of the 2001 ANZFA Act amendments, the present Act continues to operate. However, for the purposes of a transition to the new arrangements, a practice has been developed to use particular terms contained in the amending legislation. A list of the new terminology with the corresponding counterparts from the current Act is provided:
For Applications
New Terminology Old Terminology Initial Assessment Preliminary Assessment Draft Assessment Full Assessment - section 15 Final Assessment Inquiry - section 17
- section 13
For Proposals
Initial Assessment | Proposal prepared - section 21 |
Draft Assessment | Full Assessment - section 23 |
Final Assessment | Inquiry - section 24 |
Application A418- Labelling of duty free alcohol
The Board considered the Final Assessment Report for an Application which seeks to amend the Food Standards Code to exempt spirit and liqueur products sold through duty free shops for export, or in the case of in-bound duty free, for personal import ( ' domestic duty free sale ' ) from the labelling requirements of the Code. Currently, the Code imposes labelling requirements in relation to spirits and liqueurs, regardless of where these are sold, and whether they are imported or manufactured domestically.
Many specialty spirit and liqueur products imported for sale in duty free stores do not comply with labelling requirements under the Code, in particular, the standard drinks labelling requirement. To enable these products to continue to be imported into Australia without re-labelling, an amendment to the Code was sought to exempt from labelling requirements spirits and liqueurs for domestic duty free sale.
The Board could not find adequate justification for disturbing the important public health initiative of standard drink labelling, nor for exempting the inclusion of the name and address of the supplier labelling requirements in Australia or New Zealand, on labels of duty free alcohol. The proposed draft variations to the Food Standards Code will now be recommended to Ministers for rejection.