About FSANZ

Food Regulation Standing Committee (FRSC) Review - Internal Audit

During the Food Regulation Standing Committee (FRSC) Strategic Review of FSANZ Processes, it was suggested that FSANZ should evaluate the level of engagement of external experts, from both Australia and New Zealand. An internal audit was developed to identify the current level of use of external expertise in order to determine how the organisation could further enhance the engagement of appropriate experts in our work.

The results of the audit for the time period 1^st January 2005 projected to 31^st December 2006 revealed a high level of engagement of external experts, with over 90 separate occasions of formal engagement reported.

External experts were engaged for a range of uses including contracted research and analytical work (e.g. surveys, literature reviews of published material, risk assessments), advice, peer review of FSANZ scientific evaluations, secretariat support and IT support. The providers of the expertise ranged from contracted companies to independent experts and advisory groups/committees. In total, FSANZ put $1.7 million towards the engagement of external expertise in this time period to enhance the evidence base and augment the existing in-house scientific expertise.