01.03 Seafood SS  

In the past this responsibility has resided with various bodies in the agriculture portfolios at Commonwealth and/or State levels. Once these standards are developed by FSANZ and agreed to by all States and Territories, they will be adopted without alteration into State and Territory law and implemented uniformly across Australia.

The transfer of responsibility for primary product and processing standards to FSANZ will ensure that, for the first time in Australia, all domestic food standards are integrated and that food safety regulatory decisions are considered across the entire food chain.

The new nationally enforceable Standards, once developed, will form a new Chapter 4 of the Food Standards Code and will apply in Australia, but not in New Zealand.

The primary industry sectors that the food safety standards may be developed for include seafood, meat, dairy, grains, horticulture, honey, and poultry and egg production. In August 2002, the FSANZ Board agreed in principle that the first primary production and processing food safety standard will be developed for seafood.

The Standards will be developed through established FSANZ processes, utilising a scientific risk assessment to inform the most appropriate risk management solutions. In keeping with the FSANZ's statutory requirements, the standards development process will involve public consultation with all primary industry sectors, stakeholders and interested parties. The new Primary Production and Processing Standards will be outcome based (rather than onerous prescriptive rules) and be consistent with Chapter 3 of the Food Standards Code.

The outcome is very simple. Food produced must be safe to eat and there must be some plan in place to prove that all necessary steps have been taken during the production to ensure that this is the case. The issue of food quality will not be confused with food safety. Issues such as 'adequate information' may be included. This may include food names, labelling and traceability of product.

There are likely to be some changes needed to be made by some members of the Tasmanian fishing industry, although many will already have food safety plans in place that prove that the food they produce is safe to eat.

TFIC has been involved with the formulation of a voluntary national industry seafood safety standard that has been organised by Seafood Services Australia. This standard is being formulated by industry in consultation with regulators to enable a fair understanding to be clear to both industry and regulators. The philosophy is that it is better to constructively help form what is to be mandatory and enforceable rather than complain about it after the introduction.

There has been significant industry input into this standard from all over Australia. The latest (Final) draft of this standard is available on line at the Seafood Services Australia website (www.seafoodservices.com.au). This industry standard will be subsumed by the FSANZ national standard and will form an important part of the interpretive guidelines that will become vital to industry.

To gain a clearer understanding of the forthcoming standards, TFIC was the first industry body in Australia to arrange a series of meetings with FSANZ. Dr Luba Tomaska is the Program Manager for the Food Safety Program. We were fortunate enough to be able to have Dr Tomaska speak at the Tasmanian Aquaculture Council Board meeting, as well as at two seminars arranged for industry and regulators on August 15 and 16. These sessions were informative and constructive. The issue of 'impost to industry' was raised, as these regulations tend to have a 'full cost recovery' component attached to them. At present that is something the regulators are considering under a watchful eye from TFIC.

It is anticipated that the standards development process for seafood will commence in October, when the FSANZ Board is expected to announce the composition of a Standards Development Committee for seafood, consisting of regulator, industry and consumer representatives and FSANZ staff.

Two rounds of public comment will be sought from interested parties. The first round of comments will occur after the Initial Assessment or Issues paper stage of the process, seeking input about the nature and the content of the proposed standard. The second round will seek comments on the proposed Draft Assessment that will propose the legal drafting for the standard.

For further information contact:

Food Safety Program,

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ)

Phone: 02 6271 2241

Visit their website via the TFIC website or at www.fsanz.gov.au