FOOD STANDARDS NOTIFICATION CIRCULAR

16 July 2008

[12-08]

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.   Persons may contact FSANZ at one of the addresses below to arrange alternative access to these documents:

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 Final Assessments, notifications to Council and Council processes and Gazettals from the notice below were published on16 July 2008in The Australian and TheNew Zealand Herald newspapers, as well as on the FSANZ website.

Final Assessment and Council Notification – Applications And Proposals – Draft Standards [s.19(1), s.20(4A) as was in force prior to 1 July 2007 ]

(Received or prepared before 1 October 2007)

After making a Final Assessment in relation to draft variation for the following Proposal, FSANZ decided to approve the draft variations under section 18 of the FSANZ Act.   FSANZ will be giving the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council (Ministerial Council) written notification of these approvals:

• Application A552 – Cadmium in Peanuts
• Application A594 – Addition of Lutein as a Nutritive Substance to Infant Formula
• Proposal P306 – Addition of Inulin / FOS & GOS to Food

EFFECT OF DIVISIONS 3 AND 4 OF PART 3 OF THE FSANZ ACT

A standard or variation approved by FSANZ does not become legally enforceable until:

• the Ministerial Council has been notified of the standard or variation; and
• the Ministerial Council process in relation to the standard or variation is finalised; and
• FSANZ has fulfilled the publication requirements under the FSANZ Act.  

Once FSANZ has notified the Ministerial Council that it has approved the draft standard or variation, the Ministerial Council has 60 days to either request FSANZ to review the approved standard or inform FSANZ that it does not intend to request a review.

If the Ministerial Council requests a review, FSANZ must, within 3 months (or longer if the Ministerial Council allows), complete the review and notify the Ministerial Council of a decision to either:

• maintain its original approval; or
• to amend its approval; or
• withdraw its approval; and

give the Ministerial Council FSANZ’s reasons for its decision.

If FSANZ has not withdrawn its approval, the Ministerial Council has another 60 days to either request a second review or inform FSANZ that it does not intend to request a second review.   If the Ministerial Council requests a second review, the procedures and timeframe are the same as for the first review.   Once an approved standard has been reviewed twice, the Ministerial Council has 60 days to inform FSANZ that the Council does not intend to amend or reject the approved standard, or to amend or reject the approved standard.  

If the Ministerial Council informs FSANZ that:

• it does not intend to request a review of the approved standard; or
• it does not intend to amend or reject the approved standard; or
• it has amended the approved standard after the second review;

FSANZ will publish a notice in the Commonwealth (published by FSANZ as the Food Standards Gazette) and New Zealand Gazettes and in newspapers stating when the standard or variation comes into effect.   FSANZ will also publish this notice along with the text of the standard on the FSANZ website and make copies of these available for inspection by the public.   The standard becomes legally effective on the date specified in the notice

Amendment 100 Published

Amendment No. 100 to the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code was published by

FSANZ on 10 July 2008 (FSC 42). It included amendments resulting from the following

Applications and Proposal:

• Application A592 – Food derived from Glyphosate-tolerant Soybean MON89788
• Application A606 – Asparaginase as a Processing Aid (Enzyme)
• Proposal P272 – Labelling Requirements for Food for Catering Purposes & Retail Sale

OTHER MATTERS

After making an Administrative Assessment of the following Application, FSANZ decided to reject the Application as it did not meet the mandatory format and information requirements of Part 3 of the FSANZ Application Handbook:

• Potential Application A1009–Extension of Mandatory GM Labelling Requirements:   to significantly extend the current provisions as they relate to labelling of genetically modified foods

After making an Initial Assessment of the following Application, FSANZ decided to reject the Application as consideration and acceptance of this Application is clearly ultra vires the FSANZ Act. Progressing this application would be unauthorised because its intent or purpose goes well beyond anything envisaged by the FSANZ Act and its objectives:

• Application A593–Labelling of Palm Oil:   to amend Standards 1.2.4 and 2.4.1 to include and declare the labelling of palm oil

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 theAustralia 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.

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 ‘standar ds.management’ email address.