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Proposed new standards for food importers

2 Background

The Imported Food Review was a comprehensive strategic review of New Zealand’s regulatory arrangements for all imported foods. NZFSA commissioned an external review team, supported by NZFSA staff, to carry out the review and recommend cost-effective ways to improve the regime that regulates the importation of food into New Zealand. The Review was completed in 2004 and concluded that there were no major or urgent safety risks arising from the current regime. The Review made a number of recommendations for improvement with the objectives including improving efficiencies, providing greater equity among types of suppliers and products, and assisting consumer’s access to a wider variety of generally safer food for consumers. The recommendations took into account feedback from interested parties.

Government responded to the Review recommendations and outlined the areas that required changes to the imported food regime. The future imported food regime was designed by NZFSA to reflect these recommendations and took in to consideration comments by interested parties. The future regime is outlined in the NZFSA document Imported Food and Food Related Products; A Blueprint for Change – May 2007. This document and other background documents related to the Imported Food Review can be found on the NFSA website – www.nzfsa.govt.nz

Proposed New Food Legislation

Since 2003 NZFSA has been conducting a major review of New Zealand’s domestic food laws. This work was initiated in order to address inequities in the way the food industry is regulated across the country, clarify the roles of the regulators (NZFSA, Public Health Units and Local Authorities) with the objective of reducing the number of reported foodborne illnesses. In November 2006, the Government approved NZFSA’s package of recommendations designed to update and streamline food regulation, including agreeing to the development of a new Food Act in order to fully implement these changes.

Due to the complexity regarding drafting new food legislation covering all food-related aspects the introduction of the Food Bill to Parliament has been delayed and, as a result, some of the proposed changes to the imported food regime cannot proceed at this time. The draft standards implement agreed changes that are within the scope of the existing Food Act 1981. These changes will be either carried forward or replaced under new legislation and are consistent with the intended future regulatory regime.

2.1 Interim Measures

NZFSA proposes to implement as many of the Imported Food Review changes as possible under the current provisions of the Food Act 1981. Changes that have been introduced to date include the revised Prescribed Food Standards for Bivalve Molluscan Shellfish and Beef (relating to risks associated with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy). These revised standards include the pre-clearance requirements that were agreed following the Review for high risk foods whereby imports can only be sourced from those countries that are recognised as having appropriate production controls.

The proposed changes outlined in this document are described as ‘generic standards’ in the Blueprint for Change document outlining the high level design of future imported food regime.

Other Imported Food Review changes NZFSA intends to implement under the current Food Act are: introduction of a Scanning List, which will allow NZFSA to gather additional information on hazards in foods in order to better respond to emerging issues and inform decision-making on new standards; categorise imported foods into one of three regulatory interest categories (high, medium and low according to food safety risk and other factors); and then review standards for foods/hazards in light of the category in which they have been placed and the principles applying to that category.