Public Consultation - Review of the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991 - draft Regulatory Impact Statement

Overview

Introduction

In November 2019 the Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation endorsed an ambitious plan to reform the Bi-national Food Regulation System to ensure it remains strong, robust and agile into the future. A key element underpinning the reform agenda is the review of the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991 (FSANZ Act).

The FSANZ Act Review commenced in July 2020, and is a comprehensive examination of the effectiveness of the FSANZ Act and the associated operations and responsibilities of Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). The FSANZ Act is Australian legislation and underpins the Australia New Zealand Joint Food Regulatory System within which New Zealand participates as a partner under the bilateral Food Treaty.

Extensive stakeholder consultation has been undertaken to date, including public consultation on a Scoping Paper across October and November 2020 and targeted workshops with key government, industry, public health and consumer bodies. This consultation has informed the development of a draft Regulatory Impact Statement which presents three reform options for the FSANZ Act.

Option 1 is the status quo (proposes no legislative changes to the FSANZ Act), while Option 2 and 3 present increasingly ambitious suites of measures that could be taken to amend the FSANZ Act.

Stakeholders are being asked for their views on the draft Regulatory Impact Statement and to provide feedback to characterise the impact of the proposed options. It should be noted that the options are presented without prejudice and do not represent agreed positions of any government in Australia and New Zealand. The data, commentary and information received through this consultation will be analysed to inform a final Regulatory Impact Statement, which will be used to inform any amendments to the FSANZ Act.

The ambitious plan to reform the Bi-national Food Regulation System also consists of three other projects (see ‘Modernisation of the Food Regulation System’ below). These projects are being progressed in parallel to develop a new, best practice regulatory, legislative and operational basis for the system. As part of the Review of the Food Regulation Agreement project, draft Aspirations for the Food Regulation System have been developed and are available under ‘Related’ below. As part of this consultation, stakeholders are also being asked to consider how the reform options for the FSANZ Act align with the draft Aspirations for the Food Regulatory System.

PLEASE NOTE: The draft Regulatory Impact Statement and draft Aspirations for the Food Regulatory System can be found at the bottom of the page under the 'Related' heading. Please ensure you have read these documents in full before you provide feedback.

Modernisation of the Food Regulation System

In addition to the FSANZ Act Review, three other projects are being progressed under the ambitious reform agenda of the Food Regulation System: the Review of the Food Regulation Agreement, the Jurisdictional Consistency Project, and the Review of the Operations of the Food Regulation System. Further information about each of these projects can be found on the Food Regulation website.

These projects are being progressed in parallel to develop a new, best practice regulatory, legislative and operational basis for the system. Given that the reform agenda is being progressed through interconnected projects, the submissions and findings of each consultation used to inform each project where appropriate, and will be shared amongst the government organisations and consultations working on these projects. All consultation will be notified on the Food Regulation website and stakeholders who have subscribed for updates will also receive an email notification.

Preview consultation

You can download a preview of this consultation under the 'Related documents' link at the bottom of this page.

Responding to the consultation

Responses to the consultation questions are to be submitted through this online consultation platform. It is not necessary to complete the survey in one sitting. You can save your answers and come back later. 

It is acknowledged that the FSANZ Act Review draft Regulatory Impact Statement consultation is open at the same time as the consultation on Menu Labelling. We recognise the workload for stakeholders to respond to both consultations and appreciate your contribution. Please note the menu labelling consultation will be open for an additional two weeks after the FSANZ Act Review consultation closes to allow time for stakeholders to respond to both consultations if desired.

What happens next

The Department of Health received 76 submissions in response to the public consultation process. All other than those submitted as confidential are published on this webpage and can be viewed under the ‘related’ heading below.

Findings from written submissions and additional consultation will be analysed to inform the development of a final Regulatory Impact Statement, which will be used to inform any amendments to the FSANZ Act. The Department of Health, in collaboration with New Zealand, will lead the legislative amendment process.