P246 - Labelling omnibus amendments to the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code
Executive Summary and Statement of Reasons
Regulatory Problem
Proposal P246 was raised by ANZFA because of a lack of certainty over the interpretation and application of several labelling requirements in Volume 2 of the Food Standards Code, which are minor in nature. Consequently, clarification is needed to facilitate compliance and enforcement. The issues addressed in this paper concern:
- Standard 1.2.1 - Labelling of food not for retail sale or catering purposes and foods for intra company transfer. The issue is how information required by Clause 3 of Standard 1.2.1, that is, the name of the food, the lot identification, and the name and business address details of the supplier, should be provided.
- Standard 1.2.1 - Labelling of individual portion packs. The issue is whether or not items such as individually wrapped pieces of confectionery, sold in a fully labelled outer pack, should be required to have certain information printed on the wrappers in addition to the information provided on the outer pack.
- Standard 1.2.8 - Exemptions from the requirement to bear a nutrition information panel (NIP). The issue relates to the apparent omission of some items from the list of exempted foods.
- Standard 1.2.10 - Characterising ingredient and component labelling (Percentage labelling). The issue relates to the meaning and intent of certain definitions, an apparent duplication of requirements to provide certain information and a perceived inflexibility in the method of calculating and declaring the proportion of characterising ingredients and components of foods.
Impact
The impact analysis concluded that the proposed changes pose no significant public health and safety or other impacts. Overall there are no significant costs related to the proposal and there are some benefits to be gained by consumers, industry and governments, such as reduced uncertainty for suppliers of food and the public, which should result in greater compliance and more confidence in the Australian and New Zealand food system.
Consultation
Pursuant to section 36 of the Australia New Zealand Food Authority Act1991, ANZFA conducted one round of public consultation in relation to this proposal. A total of 20 submissions were received in response to the Draft Assessment report, most of which were from industry. The majority supported amendment of the relevant standards, although a number of submitters also opposed some of the detailed recommendations, particularly in relation to characterising ingredient and component labelling and to exemptions from the requirement to bear a nutrition information panel.
Conclusion and Statement of Reasons
The assessment concludes that there are no public health and safety risks likely to arise from the proposal. The proposed changes to Volume 2 of theFood Standards Codeis consistent with the section 10 objectives in the ANZFA Act. The amendments are not considered to have any significant impact on trade, so the World Trade Organization (WTO) has not been notified. Overall, there would not be any significant costs related to the proposal but there would be benefits to consumers, industry and government in terms of the quality of the information provided on labels and a reduction in the potential for misleading or deceptive conduct.
The Assessment recommends that:
- clause 3 of Standard 1.2.1 be amended to specify that the name and address of the supplier of the food may be provided in accompanying documents as an alternative to being on the label;
- clause 2 of Standard 1.2.1 be amended to require the declaration of certain substances on individual portion packs with a surface area of more than 30 cm2;
- clause 3 of Standard 1.2.8 be amended to add jam setting compound, gelatine, mineral or spring water, instant or soluble coffee and prepared filled rolls, sandwiches, bagels and similar products to the list of foods exempt from carrying a nutrition information panel; and
- Standard 1.2.10 be amended, as discussed inAttachment 6, to clarify the intent of the standard in relation to definitions, exemptions and declarations.
The proposed amendments to Standard 1.2.1,Application of Labelling and Other Information Requirementsare necessary for the following reasons:
- some of the information required on packages of food not intended for retail sale or catering and foods intended for further processing is not known by the supplier before the food is prepared for shipping; and
- some items such as individually wrapped pieces of confectionery, sold in a fully labelled outer pack, do not have sufficient space on the wrapper to enable certain information to be repeated in a legible and prominent way.
The proposed amendments to Standard 1.2.8Nutrition Information Requirementsare to address apparent omissions of some items from the list of exempted foods.
The proposed amendments in Standard 1.2.10Characterising Ingredients and Components of Foodare necessary for the following reasons:
- the meaning and intent of certain definitions is unclear;
- there is an apparent duplication of requirements to provide certain information; and
- there is a perceived inflexibility in the method of calculating and declaring the proportion of characterising ingredients and components of foods.
The commencement date of the draft variation should come into effect on the date of gazettal.