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Australian Food Regulators' News

Launch of Food Standards Australia New Zealand's science strategy

The Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) 2006–2009 Science Strategy was launched in September 2006. Dr Marion Healy (FSANZ Chief Scientist) said that the willingness of stakeholders to utilise scientific research when developing regulatory measures is one of the reasons why Australia and New Zealand have the safest food supplies in the world. FSANZ recognises that changes in the types of foods consumed and evolving consumer expectations, require scientific focus in new areas and the ability to communicate research outcomes to a broad audience. The Science Strategy describes how FSANZ intends to use its scientific resources to maintain the safety of our food supply in changing times. It is available on the FSANZ website .

New South Wales Food Authority partnering with local councils

The October 2006 edition of Food Australia reported that the NSW State Government has allocated $1.6 million in 2006-2007 for a new initiative that will improve food safety coordination between local councils and the NSW Food Authority. The role of the 152 NSW councils in food safety regulation has previously been poorly defined, leading to inefficiency. The new partnership is based on a model that ensures all NSW councils have a specific food regulatory role that matches their capacity and resources. Consumer food safety will be boosted as authorities will now be able to respond more rapidly to emergencies such as food recalls.

Food Authorities sign Memorandum of Understanding

The New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) and the New South Wales Food Authority have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that formalises their already close working relationship. In a statement released in September 2006, the NSW Primary Industries Minister, Ian Macdonald, said the MoU was an important step towards improving cooperation between the two agencies on a broad range of food safety and regulatory issues. NSW Food Authority Director-General, George Davey, commented that the agencies deal with a lot of common issues and the MoU would allow them to support each other during serious food emergencies. Areas of cooperation outlined in the MoU include policy development, standards and systems, incident response, food science, communications and compliance enforcement.