FOOD STANDARDS NOTIFICATION CIRCULAR
31 March 2008
[5-08]
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.au under <Standards Development>, then <Documents for Public Comment>and then
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 |
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 .
NEW APPLICATIONS
(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 P1003 – Mandatory Iodine Fortification for Australia: t o amend the mandatory iodine fortification Standard for New Zealand to create a joint Standard for Australia and New Zealand. The Proposal reflects advice that iodine deficiency in Australia is prevalent, warrants intervention and mandatory fortification is considered the most cost-effective strategy [28 March 2008] [FSANZ] [Australia only]
Information on applications and proposals, 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 Proposal, such as calls for public submissions, please contact the Standards Management Officer at standards.management@foodstandards.gov.au .
Please n ote that the above section is not a call for public comment.
OTHER MATTERS
Amendments to the FSANZ Act
Major amendments to the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991 passed 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 the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code from 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
Amendments to the FSANZ Application Handbook
All applications to amend the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code are required to include certain minimum information as detailed in the FSANZ Act and in any guidelines issued by FSANZ. These guidelines have been consolidated into an Application Handbook, which also contains information on assessment processes, cost-recovery and confidentiality. FSANZ is able to refuse to accept an application on the basis that it does not meet the information requirements set out in the Handbook.
FSANZ is proposing a number of amendments to the current version of theApplication Handbook (as at 1 October 2007). The proposed amendments are available in either Word of PDF versions and are now available for public comment at http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/standardsdevelopment/informationforapplicants/consultationopportun3880.cfm . There are links on this page to the current version of the Handbook.
Comments should be provided to FSANZ by 6pm (Canberra time) Monday, 28 April 2008. Please send your comments to submissions@foodstandards.gov.au .
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.