Stakeholder views are now being sought by the Federal Department of Health and Aged Care on an Impact Analysis. Information about the consultation and access to the online survey is available here.
The closing date for responses is Thursday April 4th.
The results of the consultation will be analysed to inform a final Impact Analysis, which will be used to inform any amendments to the FSANZ Act.
The final report from the review will be provided to the Australian Government Minister responsible for FSANZ, who will consider the report/review in partnership with the New Zealand Minister for Food Safety and state and territory food ministers through the Australia and New Zealand Food Ministers’ Meeting.
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.
The 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).
Extensive stakeholder consultation has already been undertaken, including public consultation on a Scoping Paper across October and November 2020, draft Regulatory Impact Statement in April to May 2021, and targeted workshops with key government, industry, public health and consumer bodies in 2021 and 2023.
The review has identified 27 concepts across four themes for further investigation. These concepts have been consolidated into 20 components in an Impact Analysis.
The Impact Analysis poses two options for consideration:
- Option 1: Retain the status quo
- Option 2: Modernise regulatory settings
Option 2 is comprised of four themes:
- Theme 1 – Purpose and Objectives: Providing greater clarity on the purpose and objectives of FSANZ.
- Theme 2 – Reforming Standard settings: Supporting more efficient and effective processes to develop food regulatory measures, with risk being the key driver of process.
- Theme 3 – Efficient and Effective Operations: Focused on better use of FSANZ’s limited resources through more effective governance, as well as achieving financial sustainability for the organisation.
- Theme 4 – Improving System Agility: Aimed at making the food regulatory system better integrated, streamlined, and evidence informed.