Consultation on Introducing New Safety Regime

The Ministry of Health is seeking people's views about whether companies should be given another chance to get safety assessments for genetically modified foods, Director of Public Health Dr Gillian Durham said today.

'From 13 May 1999, all genetically modified foods must receive a safety approval from the Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) or they will be illegal,' Dr Durham said.

'The Australia New Zealand Food Authority is considering altering the 13 May requirements after receiving just seven applications for safety approval from two companies. It takes approximately 9 months for the assessment and approval to be done. Two assessments are nearing completion.'

'While the applications from the two companies cover a lot of foods - we're not satisfied every company has applied to have their foods assessed.'

'All genetically modified foods in New Zealand are imported and may be components of processed foods.'

'The Ministry of Health must consult with the public before expressing New Zealand's view on changes to the 13 May requirement. The consultation considers an alternative which would allow 'grandparenting' of foods containing genetically modified foods,' Dr Durham said.

'Grandparenting would mean that as long as biotechnology companies lodged their applications with ANZFA by 30 April, and had approval from overseas authorities that their product was safe they could keep selling their products until the full assessment was complete.'

'The Ministry of Health is committed to ensuring the safety of the food available to New Zealanders.'

'The assessments have to be done. ANZFA has to make a decision on whether to change the current process by the end of the month and New Zealand's vote will take account of the results of the consultation process. The Ministry will be running a concise period of consultation.'

Newspaper advertisements for the discussion document have been placed today and during the weekend. Submissions close on 25 March.'

'The consultation process is also a reminder to food manufacturers to closely scrutinise their products and determine whether they need a safety assessment,' Dr Durham said.

Background

Australian and New Zealand food legislation does not generally require

specific pre-market approval for foods whether they are produced using gene technology or not. Nonetheless, foods produced using gene technology, as with all foods, are required under the Food Act 1981 to be safe for human consumption and free from contamination. It is the responsibility of anyone selling food, including genetically modified foods in New Zealand, to ensure that they meet these legal obligations.

The Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) standard (A18) for the labelling and sale of genetically modified foods has been adopted in both New Zealand and Australia. The standard was gazetted last August and will come into force on 13 May 1999.

The Standard:

• provides a general prohibition and requires each genetically modified food to be assessed for safety before it can be sold.
• requires labelling - if the genetically modified food is judged to be substantially different to its conventional counterpart, it will require labelling.
• sets out the process for safety assessments of specific applications to market all genetically modified foods.

Assessments will be made by ANZFA, and require the endorsement of the Council of Ministers to become law in both countries.

The issue is one of ensuring food safety.

The risk assessment process for each food includes an evaluation of the issues of public concern such as, allergens, new toxins, potential nutritional effect, possibility of gene transfer from ingested genetically modified organisms to micro-organisms in the human gut using sound scientific principles to provide a reasonable assurance of safety.

The ANZFA assessment process involves two rounds of public consultation, giving all who are interested an opportunity to have their say.

Genetically modified foods must meet the same safety standards as any other food products. The safety of the foods we eat today is the benchmark by which the risks of foods produced using gene technology is compared. There is no evidence to suggest that genetically modified foods which are available for sale after being assessed and accepted by competent regulatory agencies have caused any unexpected adverse health effects in consumers.

Since 1 July 1998 Environmental Risk Management Authority NZ evaluates risks and controls that should be put in place before genetically modified organisms are released in the environment in New Zealand.

Food standard setting in NZ and Australia is now developed jointly (following an agreement reached in 1995). ANZFA is currently developing a joint Food Standards Code for both countries.