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Statement of Intent 2007

3 From the Acting Chief Executive

1 July 2007 marked the start of NZFSA’s new role as a fully autonomous government department. As well as providing an opportunity to renew our commitment to protect and promote food safety and enhance New Zealand’s vital food export trade, our changed status creates the impetus for re-evaluating our strategic direction and approaches to food safety regulation.

Given the timing of our change in status, this Statement of Intent (SOI) is an interim document that reiterates our current approach and outcomes for the balance of the 2007/08 year. Over the next 12 months we will be developing a new SOI that takes a new look at our existing strategy and the needs of our consumer, industry and government stakeholders. We see our role in food regulation as strengthening the relationship between the consumer and those people producing, processing and selling food, whether that consumer is in New Zealand or is represented by our counterpart government agencies in the countries with which New Zealand trades.

Consumers worldwide want safe and suitable food and beverages that are truthfully labelled. For the most part, this is delivered by the food producers themselves and is the basis of a commercially and socially sustainable relationship between them and the consumer, their customer. At any one time, however, there are food producers who do not meet, or occasionally choose not to meet, the food safety and suitability requirements that form the basis for this relationship. This jeopardises not only consumers but also the businesses of the vast majority of food producers who do comply with requirements.

NZFSA’s primary goal is to underpin the relationship between producer and consumer by developing appropriate risk-based regulatory requirements in a consultative and participatory manner and ensuring that they are properly complied with; thereby creating a level playing field for all.

For NZFSA itself, it is important that our people have a clear understanding of food and food regulation within the wider context of all-of-government goals. Equally important are relationships with our different stakeholder groups and their understanding of our regulatory role. We fully recognise that food policy and regulation are not ends in themselves. They also contribute to the Government’s overarching goals for public health, trade, agriculture (and biosecurity), production and commerce.These primary goals are led by the core government departments of Health, Agriculture, Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Economic Development. NZFSA’s outcomes contribute significantly to the role these departments play and we are enhancing our linkages with them.

NZFSA must interact directly or indirectly with a vast number of people and enterprises involved in the food business. If we are successful in applying our food safety mandate, the wider outcomes of our activities are improved public health, enhanced market access for our food exports, and economic growth and prosperity for all New Zealanders. We are also entrusted with developing effective cross-government linkages so as to fully contribute to the desired Government outcomes for ‘Families Young and Old’ and ‘Economic Transformation’.

NZFSA embraces the challenges across all these areas. This SOI is an early statement of our approach to this process.

Andrew McKenzie

ACTING CHIEF EXECUTIVE.