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FOOD STANDARDS NOTIFICATION CIRCULAR

26 June 2008

[11-08]

This Notification Circular includes notices that are required to be given to the public, submitters and appropriate government agencies, under the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991(FSANZ Act).   All references below to sections of legislation, are to the FSANZ Act unless otherwise indicated.

Further information about the applications, proposals and other matters mentioned below, including assessment reports, processes and – where applicable – reasons for decisions, can be accessed on the FSANZ website at www.foodstandards.gov.auunder <Standards Development>, then <Documents for Public Comment>and then.   Persons may contact FSANZ at one of the addresses below to arrange alternative access to these documents:

The Information Officer	The Office Administrator
Food Standards Australia New Zealand	Food Standards Australia New Zealand
PO Box 7186	PO Box 10559
CANBERRA BC   ACT   2610	WELLINGTON   6036
AUSTRALIA	NEW ZEALAND
Tel   +61 2 6271 2241      Fax   +61 2 6271 2278	Tel   +64 4 978 5630        Fax   +64 4 473 9855
Email:   information@foodstandards.gov.au	Email:   information@foodstandards.govt.nz

General questions on the work of FSANZ should be directed to the Information Officer at the either of the addresses above.   Queries concerning the matters in this Circular on assessment or submission processes should be directed to the Standards Management Officer at standards.management@foodstandards.gov.au .

PROGRESS ON APPLICATIONS AND PROPOSALS

Details on the urgent Proposal from the notice below will be published on 30 June 2008inThe AustralianandTheNew Zealand Heraldnewspapers.

NEW APPLICATIONS AND PROPOSALS

(Note that this section is not a call for public comment)

FSANZ has prepared the following Proposal and placed it on the FSANZ Food Standards Development Work Plan:

GENERAL PROCEDURE

• Proposal M1002– Maximum Residue Limits (January, February, March 2008)  [Australia only]: to amend maximum residue limits for a number of agricultural and veterinary chemicals
  

Information on the Proposal, including an anticipated timetable for assessment and consultation opportunities, is provided in the FSANZ Food Standards Development Work Plan which is available on the FSANZ website at http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/standardsdevelopment/standardsworkplan.cfm .

Administrative Assessment Reports can be accessed on the FSANZ website at http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/standardsdevelopment/applications/index.cfm . If you wish to be advised of any developments relating to the above Application, such as calls for public submissions, please contact the Standards Management Officer at

standards.management@foodstandards.gov.au .

Please note that the above section is not a call for public comment.

URGENT PROPOSAL [s.97]

After consideration of the draft variation for the following urgent Proposal, FSANZ decided to approve the draft under section 97 of the FSANZ Act.  

• Proposal P1006 – Remove Commencement Provision for Certain Special Purpose Infant Formula:   to amend clause 27 of Standard 2.9.1 - Infant Formula Products to remove a commencement provision (subclause 27(3) and consequently, subclause 27(2)) that may constrain manufacturers from specifically formulating infant formula products for metabolic, immunological, renal, hepatic and malabsorptive conditions.

The variation was gazetted in Amendment No. 99 to the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (FSC 41) which was published by FSANZ on 26 June 2008.  The variation also took effect on this date.   FSANZ is now required to assess this Standard, call for public submissions and then make a decision on the Standard by 26 June 2009 .

Amendments to the FSANZ Act

Major amendments to theFood Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991passed the Australian Parliament on 20 June 2007 and were proclaimed on 1 July 2007.   These amendments affect how FSANZ assesses applications received and proposals prepared to amend theAustralia New Zealand Food Standards Codefrom 1 October 2007 onwards. Further information on these changes is available from the FSANZ website at http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/standardsdevelopment/informationforapplicants/index.cfm .

Email address changes

The email address ‘slo@foodstandards.gov.au’ has been discontinued.   Two new email addresses, standards.management@foodstandards.gov.au (for all general inquiries about standards issues) and submissions@foodstandards.gov.au (for public submissions on assessment reports only) have been created.   Any emails sent to ‘slo’ will be automatically redirected to the new ‘standards.management’ email address.

[Australia only] These matters relate to ‘Australia only’ standards that are not part of the joint regulatory arrangements with New Zealand.   However, food from Australia complying with these standards may be supplied in New Zealand.   If the matter is open for public comment, anyone may provide submissions in relation to these matters.