FSANZ48 - Board meeting
7 - 8 March 2012
At its 48th meeting held in Wellington, New Zealand, on 7-8 March 2012, the FSANZ Board (the Board) approved three variations to the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Code).
Application A1054 – Dibromo-Dimethylhydantoin (DBDMH) as a Processing Aid (Approval )
Application A1061 – Amylomaltase as a Processing Aid (Enzyme) (Approval)
Application A1063 – Food derived from Herbicide-tolerant Soybean MON87708 (Approval)
These decisions have been notified to the COAG Legislative and Governance Forum on Food Regulation. Approval reports summarising the reasons for these decisions are available on the FSANZ website.
The Board also called for submissions on the following matters on 26 March 2012:
Proposal P1014 – Primary Production & Processing Standard for Minor Meat Species & Wild Game (1st call for submissions)
Proposal P1015 – Primary Production & Processing Standard for Horticulture (1st call for submissions)
Proposed Future Regulation of Nutritive Substances and Novel Foods in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (consultation paper)
The Board considered a first draft of its next three year (2012-2015) Corporate Plan. The plan sets the forward direction for the agency and is an important part of FSANZ’s strategic planning framework. The Board will seek to finalise the Corporate Plan at its next meeting in May 2012.
The Board completed its biennial review of the FSANZ Board Charter and formally adopted a new Charter for 2012-2013. The charter sets out the Board’s objectives, authority, composition and tenure, roles and responsibilities, reporting and administrative arrangements. It is subject to the provisions of the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991 and the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997.
The Board considered the food regulation Ministers’agreed response to recommendations from a review of food labelling law and policy. It also considered a draft action plan prepared by FSANZ as part of the overall Implementation Work Plan currently being considered by Ministers. The Board noted there would be a significant amount of work for FSANZ over the next 1-3 years to implement some outcomes and to contribute to the implementation of other outcomes that fall outside FSANZ’s direct area of responsibility but which are likely to require FSANZ’s input.
Review of food labelling law and policy
The Board agreed to the re-appointment of four of its current Fellows for a further three-year term. Professor Ken Buckle (food science, processing and microbiology); Professor Nigel French (molecular epidemiology and risk research); Professor Stephen Goodall (health economics); and Professor Seppo Salminen (intestinal microbiota and health, probiotics and prebiotics) have all been re-appointed. The FSANZ Fellows program was established in 2000 and provides FSANZ with a network of distinguished experts in areas relevant to FSANZ’s work, whose expertise is an important source of independent, high-calibre advice on regulatory activities. There are 18 FSANZ Fellows.
The Board considered a review of FSANZ’s current Māori consultation arrangements which sought to examine whether they met the needs of both the Māori community and FSANZ. After considering the review, which included feedback from members of the Māori Reference Group (Ngā Kaitohutohu Kounga Kai), the Board agreed to disband the Māori Reference Group and try an alternative approach of linking into existing Māori networks that are operated by other organisations with an interest in food and nutrition.
During its meeting in Wellington, the FSANZ Board met with the New Zealand Minister of Food Safety. The Board also took the opportunity to meet with a range of industry, consumer, public health and government stakeholders
The Board’s next face-to-face meeting will be held in Canberra on 9-10 May 2012.
The schedule of Board meetings for 2012 can be accessed here.
All applications and proposals and submissions made in response to calls for public comment, can be found on the website.