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 |
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AFSC |
Australian Food Standards Committee |
|
ANAO |
The Australian National Audit Office |
|
ANZFA |
Australia New Zealand Food Authority |
|
ANZFAAC |
Australia New Zealand Food Authority Advisory Committee |
|
ANZFSC |
Australia New Zealand Food Standards Council |
|
AQIS |
Australian Quarantine Inspection Service |
|
ARMCANZ |
Agriculture and Resource Management Council of Australia and New Zealand |
|
CAFTA |
Council of Australian Food Technology Associations |
|
CAT |
Communications Advisory Team of the National Safe Food Working Group |
|
CDN |
Communicable Disease Network of Australia |
|
COAG |
Council of Australian Governments |
|
CRC |
Co-operative Research Centre |
|
FAO |
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation |
|
FBCA |
Federal Bureau of Consumer Affairs |
|
FBST |
Flour, beef, sugar tea-a labourer's ration |
|
FSANZ |
Food Standards Australia New Zealand |
|
FSC |
Australian Food Standards Code |
|
GM |
Genetically modified |
|
GMP |
Good Manufacturing Practice |
|
HACCP |
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point |
|
HUS |
Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome |
|
JANZFSC |
Joint Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code |
|
JECFA |
WHO/FAO Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives |
|
MRL |
Maximum Residue Limits |
|
NCE |
National Centre of Epidemiology |
|
NFA |
National Food Authority see ANZFA |
|
NFSC |
National Food Standards Council |
|
NSFWG |
National Safe Food Working Group |
|
NHMRC |
National Health and Medical Research Council |
|
NPHP |
National Public Health Partnership |
|
RAT |
National Safe Food Working Group's Risk Analysis Team |
|
SCARM |
Standing Committee on Agriculture and Resource Management |
|
SCFA |
Standing Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture |
|
SIGNAL |
Strategic Inter-Governmental Nutrition Alliance |
|
TPAct |
Commonwealth Trade Practices Act |
|
TTMRA |
The Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Arrangement |
|
UFLIC |
Uniform Food Law Interpretation Committee |
|
UK |
United Kingdom |
|
WHO |
World Health Organisation |
Food regulation may be defined in various ways but for this chronology it is appropriate to use the definition provided by the Food Regulation Review. TheReviewprovided advice to Commonwealth Agriculture and Health Ministers on how to simplify Australia's food regulatory system to reduce the burden of excessive regulation to industry without compromising public health and safety. The Review's definition was:
Actions by government which affect the safety or quality of, or the information available in relation to food; encompassing all types of government regulation-making, industry self-regulation, compliance and enforcement activities; and covering relevant activities of all businesses in the supply chain ....(1)
Food regulation has been a perennial issue for Australia from the dietary practices of the first Australians, through navy regulations governing rations for the First Fleeters, to the current upgrading of Australian food laws and regulatory measures. Change is an inevitable and sometimes resisted element for those pioneering improved diets and better food safety and quality. Factors influencing change are geographic, social, political or economic circumstances, supply chains and new technologies, including different ways of compiling, recording, disseminating and using information.
Governor Phillip was an early pioneer of Australian food regulation: his persistence resulting in a change to the British Royal Navy rations. The Naval Board was determined that the First Fleet abide by the same food provision rules as were applied to the relatively short voyage to the Americas. On health grounds, particularly concerns about scurvy, Governor Phillip forced the Naval Board to vary the First Fleet victuals contract that was based on the Royal Navy ration model. He insisted that, while at Portsmouth, fresh foods should be given indiscriminately to marine and convict, well and sick, and he also obtained the authority to purchase provisions (including fresh fruit and vegetables) en route.(2)
Once in Australia there was European bewilderment when encountering varying dietary practices of the first Australians. The explorer, Eyre, recorded in his Journals:
It is difficult to account for the taste or prejudice of the native which guides him in his selection or rejection of particular kinds of food. What is eaten readily by the natives in one part of Australia is left untouched by them in another; thus the oyster is eaten at Sydney, and I believe at King Georges Sound, but not at Streaky Bay. The unio or fresh-water muscle is eaten in great numbers by all natives of New South Wales and South Australia, but Captain Grey found that a Perth native ... would not touch this kind of food even when almost starving. Snakes are eaten by some tribes, but not by others; and so with many other kinds of food which they make use of.(3)
In today's Australia food regulators must accommodate a complex multi-cultural population and examine the value of foods derived from indigenous Australian sources.
Dietary Interventions Through Food Regulation
Initially, settlers were dependent on food shipments for survival. Supplies reached the settlement in a deteriorated state. For example, the First Fleet's barley and wheat deteriorated during the voyage to Botany Bay because of excessive heat and weevils.(4) First Fleeters' diets were regulated as follows:
Seamen's weekly ration: 7 lbs bread/biscuit, 4 lbs beef, 2 lbs pork, 2 pints peas, 3 pints oatmeal, 8 oz butter, 12 ozs cheese and 7 gallons beer.
Male convicts: 7 lbs of bread or flour, 7 lbs beef or 4 lbs pork, 3 pints peas, 6 ozs butter and 1 lb flour or half lb rice.
Women convicts: two thirds of the male convict ration(5). However, initial weekly rations were reduced as food became scarce, to 2 lbs salt pork, 2 1/2 lbs flour and 2 lb rice for adults by mid-1790.(6)
Scurvy and starvation were endured in the first settlement despite the use of native plants such as wild celery, spinach, figs, cherries and samphire(7) to supplement prescribed provisions. Compare this to a selection of items from the current Australian weekly diet:
3.59 lbs wheaten flour, 5.84 lbs meat, poultry and seafood, 15.3 lbs fruit and vegetables, 1.2 lbs dairy products, 0.95 lbs oils and fats, 2.24 lbs sugar, 3 pints of beer and 0.67 pints of wine.(8)
Today, direct mandatory dietary interventions would be most unpopular. In Australia, despite the ready availability of a wider range of foods, contemporary concerns about diet-related disease have encouraged governments to examine dietary intervention methods so as to achieve better health outcomes and to contain escalating health care costs. Internationally, the World Health Organisation has identified an obesity epidemic, their concerns including children as well as adults.(9) The 1995 National Nutrition Survey showed that 56 per cent of adult Australians were either overweight or obese. Between 1985 and 1995 numbers of overweight children doubled and obese children tripled.(10) Australia was the first country to devise a national strategy to combat this trend.(11) However, ANZFA's Ian Lindenmayer stated recently that 13 per cent of all hospitalisations in NSW in 1991-92 were seen to be diet-related and diet-related disease costs in Australia for 1989-90 were $2 billion ($1.4 billion in direct costs and $0.6 billion in indirect costs).(12) Clearly more food-related changes are needed. We are still a long way from understanding what dietary changes could in fact improve health and wellbeing and to what extent diet does relate to disease. For example, the appropriate dietary levels of vitamin and fat are still subject to considerable debate. In this environment, the National Public Health Partnership(13) is proceeding towards a national nutrition strategy, Eat well Australia.(14)
Until agriculture was established in the early 1800s, food quantity rather than quality was the predominant concern of the first European governors and settlers. There were no First Fleeters with knowledge of farming or stock management.(15)
Early days of Australian food manufacture were beset by scarcity of ingredients resulting in instances of deliberate contamination of bread, for example, with ash (potash) and other fillers, to reduce the cost of production. For this reason Governor King issued what appears to be the first Australian food manufacturing regulation, an ordinance to control milling and baking quality in 1801. (The first Australians also used fillers, usually clay, for thickening or bulking foods).(16) Only recently, in the new Joint Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (JANZFSC), have the prescriptive limits for ash and other fillers in foods been excluded. Under the old, but presently co-existing Food Standards Code, the bread standard permitted no more than 55 mg/kg of ash in white bread. Today, GMP (good manufacturing practice), the market, consumer protection afforded by the Commonwealth Trade Practices Act (TPAct), Food Acts of States and Territories as well as national foodstuff and food safety standards enforceable by Australian jurisdictions will now determine the success or failure of food products. There are also non-mandatory codes of practice for specific foods and food processing industries.
The Victorian Pure Food Act 1905 and the National Health and Medical Research Council's (NHMRC) Food Additives Committee set up in 1953 helped to set Australia at the forefront of those countries striving for a safe food supply. Recently, ANZFA's 19th Australian Total Diet Survey found that Australian produced foods are among the world's cleanest.(17)
Today, many food purity and safety concerns are derived from changes in the ways our food supply is produced, sourced, prepared and delivered. The origins of foods are more difficult to trace, placing increased stresses on Australian quarantine (eg. surveillance for foot and mouth disease, mad cow disease, aflatoxins (fungal toxins)(18) etc.). Additionally, the phenomena of nutriceuticals (functional foods),(19) health claims, sports foods etc, have encouraged increased scrutiny of such foods by regulators. This is usually followed by the development of new or strengthened food standards. Regulators aim to protect consumers with standards for the packaging and labelling of processed foods. Improved nutritional and ingredient-derived labelling is, in part, a reflection of the desire of informed citizens and governments to know what is being eaten so that better dietary habits can be achieved.
Regulatory regimes will continue to respond to different foods and food processing methods or chemical or microbiological contamination risks. There are new ways of growing and producing foods such as genetic engineering techniques. There is an array of technologies for preserving foods such as food irradiation, ultra-high pressure or ultraviolet light sterilisation as well as freezing and cook-chill methods. Food handling risks are also managed by food standards.
The quality, quantity, availability and safety of foods Australians now eat is a long way from the standard issue FBST, the standard Flour, Beef, Sugar and Tea ration which was the weekly food ration doled out to rural Australian labourers well into the twentieth century.
The purpose of this chronology is to provide a backdrop to the increasingly complex issue food regulation has become and to current and impending changes to Australia's federal food regulation system. Documents used are cited through the text. Secondary sources such as Technology in Australia 1788-1988,(20) Walquist's chronology for historic Australian food events,(21) Helen Nelson's 'Recipes for Uniformity',(22) and Goldring, Maher & McKeough have been used for some regulatory milestones.(23) While the emphasis is on national food regulation developments, for contextual purposes, the chronology includes some non-regulatory food benchmarks that have changed the way Australians eat.
Further information about current and proposed activities of Australia's national food authority, the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Authority (ANZFA), shortly to become the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), may be found at their web site.(24) A comprehensive list of Commonwealth, State and Territory legislation may be found at the Food Law and Policy Australia site. Links to International regulations are also provided.(25)
|
Milestones |
Details |
Source Documents |
|---|---|---|
|
1788 |
Governor Phillip's land at Farm Cove produced twenty-five bushels of barley. |
Ida Lee, The coming of the British to Australia 1788 to 1829, 2nd ed., London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1906, p. 85. |
|
1790s |
Australia's first brewer, James Squire, a First Fleeter, established a brewery at Kissing Point in 1795 using locally grown maize as well as barley and hops imported from England. |
Technology in Australia 1788-1988. A condensed history of Australian innovation and adaptation during the first two hundred years, compiled by Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Melbourne: Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, 1998, p. 73. |
|
1791 |
P. Schaffer was the first private vigneron with one acre of vines. |
Technology in Australia, ibid, p. 74. |
|
1801 |
An ordinance was released by Governor King on 8 May to regulate milling and baking in response to problems with the food supply. |
Technology in Australia, ibid, p. 73. |
|
1806 |
Brewing was forbidden in Van Dieman's Land in order to conserve scarce wheat for bread making. |
Technology in Australia, ibid, p. 74. |
|
1814 |
Four brewing licences had been issued in New South Wales. |
'Brewing industry', 6th ed. The Australian Encyclopaedia, vol. 2, p. 540. |
|
1821 |
Distillation of spirits was first permitted, the only raw imported ingredient allowed was sugar. |
Technology in Australia, op. cit., p. 75. |
|
1824 |
Australia's oldest manufacturing operation, Cascade Brewery was built in Hobart. |
'Brewing industry', op. cit. |
|
1827 |
The use of local grain for brewing was permitted for the first time. |
Technology in Australia, op. cit., p. 74. |
|
1838 |
The NSW Adulteration of Bread Act was passed in 1838. |
|
|
1850s |
Australia had some public and also government appointed analysts. |
Technology in Australia; op. cit., p. 113. |
|
1850s |
The Australian meat pie had been invented. |
Mark L. Walquist ed. Food & Nutrition in Australia, Melbourne: Nelson, 1988, p. 18. |
|
1857 |
James Harrison of Geelong developed mechanical refrigeration. |
Technology in Australia, op. cit., p. 80. |
|
1859 |
Thomas Austin introduced 12 wild rabbits at Winchelsea near Geelong, an important food source until after WWII. |
Walquist, op. cit., p. 19. |
|
1863 |
The Victorian Act to Prevent the Adulteration of Articles of Food and Drink was passed but proved to beineffective, in part, due to the lack of analysts as well as appropriate analytical methods. |
Technology in Australia, op. cit., p. 113. |
|
1875 |
Sale of Food and Drugs Act 1875 (UK). In the opinion of Goldring et al Australia's partially uniform controls on the sale of foods can be traced to this United Kingdom Act. |
John Goldring, Laurence W. Maher and Jill McKeough, Consumer protection law in Australia, 3rd ed., Sydney: Butterworths, 1987, p. 136. |
|
1875 |
Gas stoves became available. |
Walquist ed. op. cit., p. 18. |
|
1875 |
The Victorian government analyst, William Johnson, reported to that State's inquiry into beer that of the 1200 examples of colonial beer tested, with few exceptions, they were muddy and poor in alcohol but didn't contain dangerous ingredients as had been claimed by some. |
Keith Dunton, |
|
1876 |
The Argus, in Melbourne, published a series of analyses on confectionery, tea and milk showing serious adulteration. |
Technology in Australia, op. cit., p. 113. |
|
1883 |
The Victorian Public Health Amendment Statute provided for the appointment of public [food] analysts by municipal authorities on the English model. |
Technology in Australia, op. cit., p. 115. |
|
1901 |
Federation. By inference, under section 51 of the Australian Constitution food matters are a matter for State and Territory legislation. |
|
|
1904 |
The first public electric power supply in Australia was established in Sydney. |
Walquist, op. cit., p. 19. |
|
1905 |
The Victorian Pure Food Act was the first overall food act developed on the Australian continent. It was preceded by Acts passed by various other Australian colonies to regulate for specific aspects of the food industry, eg. the 1838 NSW regulation for bread. |
|
|
1905 |
Commonwealth (Trade Descriptions) Act was passed and export regulations were developed for many foods. |
|
|
1906 |
The United States Food and Drugs Act was passed. This Act also influenced the development of Australian food controls. |
Goldring, op. cit, p. 136. |
|
1907 |
The Federal Council of the Associated Chambers of Manufacturers of Australia lobbied the Commonwealth and State governments for a uniform system of food laws. |
Peter L. Swan, The pure food laws and regulations: burdensome laws in search of meaningful objectives?, The Centre for Independent Studies, 1987, p. 26. |
|
1908 |
The Quarantine Act 1908 covers pest and disease risks from imported goods. |
|
|
1908 |
The State of Victoria was praised in a resolution adopted at an international conference in Paris for its Pure Food Act that was thought to be the most complete and advanced in the world at the time. |
Food quality in Australia. A report on food safety monitoring in Australia, Papers delivered at a meeting of the Science and Industry Forum of the Australian Academy of Science on 19 February 1977, Report Number 22, Canberra: Australian Academy of Science, 1977, pp. 7-8. |
|
1908 |
The New South Wales Pure Food Act regulated for advertising and adulteration of food as well as the appliances used in the manufacture of food. |
|
|
1908 |
The South Australian Food and Drugs Act was passed. |
|
|
1908 |
Prime Minister Alfred Deakin promised uniform food standards. |
Helen Nelson, 'Recipes for uniformity', Australian Journal of Political Science, vol. 27, Special Issue, 1992, p. 79. |
|
1910 |
An intergovernmental conference led to a Royal Commission to collect evidence on food and drug laws. |
Helen Nelson, ibid, p. 79. |
|
1911 |
The Western Australian Health Act was passed. |
|
|
1912 |
The first domestic refrigerators appeared. |
Walquist, op. cit., p. 19. |
|
1914 |
The Times of London stated that: Australia was the first of the dominions of the British Empire and probably the first country in the world to enact pure food legislation and to establish standards to which manufacturers of food must conform. Five Australian States had passed pure food legislation between 1905 and 1910. The Premiers' Conference suggested that there should be a set of food regulations for adoption by all States. |
National Food Authority, Annual Report 1991-2, Canberra: AGPS, 1992, p. 6. |
|
1922 |
In response to concerns about the quality of Melbourne's milk supply the Milk Supply Act led to the setting up of a milk laboratory at the Veterinary Research Institute in the University of Melbourne for the microbiological and chemical testing of milk from farms. |
Technology in Australia, op. cit. p. 127. |
|
1933 |
The commencement of the Women's Weekly provides information about food to the public. Milk bars were introduced. |
Walquist, op. cit., p. 19. |
|
1935 |
Burt Sachse invented pavlova. |
Walquist, op. cit., p. 19. |
|
1936 |
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) was set up. Food was considered part of its brief because food was seen as a public health matter. |
David R. Briggs, 'Food and the law', In Mark L. Walquist ed., Food & Nutrition in Australia, 3rd ed, Melbourne: Thomas Nelson Australia, 1988, pp. 49-63, p. 51. |
|
1949 |
The Council of Australian Food Technology Associations was established and it offered to help the establishment of uniform regulation. |
|
|
1953 |
The move to develop uniform food regulations within the NHMRC commenced. |
|
|
1953 |
The NHMRC set up a Food Additives Committee to advise on all aspects of additives and contaminants in relation to Australian food regulations, thus becoming one of the first countries to do so. Their comprehensive set of principles were developed four years ahead of the WHO/FAO's JECFA (Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives) attempt. One of the Australian committee's first recommendations was to disallow the use of fat-soluble colours in foods. |
Technology in Australia, op. cit., p. 124. |
|
1956 |
The commencement of television heralded the beginning of its influence on Australian dietary habits. |
Walquist, op. cit., p. 19. |
|
1961 |
The Food and Agriculture Organisation established a food agency, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, to further both consumer health and fair trade practices. |
General decisions of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, web
site at: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/ |
|
1962 |
From 1962 the Commission has developed international food standards, guidelines, codes of practices, principles and recommendations. Australia has been a member of the Commission from the beginning. |
Strategic objectives for Australia's interests in Codex 1998-2002, Published by the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service on behalf of the National Codex Committee, c1998. |
|
1962 |
An Act covering food matters, the Tasmanian Public Health Act, was passed. |
|
|
1967 |
South Australia abandoned 6pm hotel closing, the last State to do so. |
Walquist, op. cit., p. 19. |
|
1968-72 |
Fast food chains (eg. Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, McDonald's) were established. |
Walquist, op. cit., p. 19. |
|
1974 |
The Commonwealth Trade Practices Act 1974 (TPAct) which provides consumer protection laws was passed. |
|
|
1975 |
The Conference of Commonwealth and State Health Ministers agreed to set up a joint working party to draw up a draft Model Food Act to achieve national uniform food legislation. Representatives from State and Territory health departments as well as Commonwealth Health, Attorney-General's and Business and Consumer Affairs Departments made up the Working Party on Model Food Law. The need to develop complementary national regulations for food standards, hygiene and labelling and packaging was identified. |
Maurine W. Gerkens and Randall J. Gerkens, Food Law in Australia, Sydney: The Law Book Company, 1985, p. 1. |
|
1977 |
An Australian Academy of Science report made recommendations to strengthen Australian food safety. These included: making food poisoning notifiable, attention to food grown in areas where soils and waters had high levels of toxic metals, introducing uniform food laws, ensuring the enforcement of food standards, seeking and paying for toxicological studies overseas because the cost of an Australian laboratory was seen to be too expensive, joint jurisdictional monitoring of the microbiological and chemical status of Australian foods, better food inspectors and the unification of jurisdictional requirements for food, meat and dairy products under a single authority. |
Food quality in Australia. A report on food safety monitoring in Australia and Papers delivered at a meeting of the Science and Industry Forum of the Australian Academy of Science on 19 February 1977, Report Number 22, Canberra: Australian Academy of Science, 1977, p. 2. |
|
1979-1985 |
Dietary Guidelines for Australians were developed. |
Dietary Guidelines for Australians,Canberra: AGPS, 1982. See also subsequent editions. |
|
1980 |
The Model Food Act, covering sale and food preparation offences, labelling and hygiene requirements, regulation and administration and enforcement, was agreed to by the Conference of Health Ministers with the intention that the jurisdictions involved would forward its adoption. |
|
|
1981 |
Queensland's Food Act was the first jurisdictional food act to be based on the Model Food Act. |
|
|
1984 |
The Victorian Food Act was passed. |
|
|
1984 |
The Food Industry Council of Australia estimated the costs to food manufacturers of complying with non-uniform regulations at $50 million per year but this figure has been questioned. |
Helen Nelson, op. cit., p. 81. |
|
1985 |
The South Australian Food Act was passed. |
|
|
1985 |
The Western Australian Health Act 1911 was amended along the lines of the Model Food Act. |
|
|
1980s |
The Food Industry Council of Australia, the Australian Federation of Consumer Organisations and the Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology called for a national food authority to oversee national food standards. |
Helen Nelson, op. cit., p. 82. |
|
1985 |
Quarantine functions were transferred from the Department of Health to the Department of Primary Industry. |
|
|
1986 |
Most States had enacted legislation close to, but not identical to, the Model Food Act. The Northern Territory's Food Act was passed. |
|
|
1986 |
As a result of the first National Food Standards Agreement between the Commonwealth, States and Territories, the National Foods Standards Council (NFSC) was established. Its role was to adopt approved food standards drafted by the NHMRC. |
Agreement between the Commonwealth of Australia and the States and the Northern Territory of Australia in relation to the adoption of uniform food standards, Canberra: Australian Government Solicitor, 1986. |
|
1986 |
The NHMRC's Australian Food Standards Code was endorsed by the Commonwealth, States and Territories. The Commonwealth Minister for Health, the Hon. Dr N. Blewett, announced the Code's adoption on October 7. |
Goldring, et al., op. cit., citing the Sydney Morning Herald, 8 October 1986, p. 4. |
|
1987 |
Food standards development was transferred from the NHMRC, in the Department of Health, to the Bureau of Consumer Affairs in the Attorney-General's Department. |
Helen Nelson, op. cit., pp. 78-90. |
|
1988 |
An Industries Assistance Commission report indicated that Australia's food regulation system was impeding the development of an efficient and competitive export industry and was constraining the adoption of new technologies and product innovation because of inherent costs and impediments. The Council of Australian Food Technology Associations (CAFTA) said that minor changes to the Food Standards Code took 2 years and with 5 years for major changes. Non-uniformity in the interpretation of regulations was problematic. There was more success when the FSC was adopted by reference with minor variations. |
National Food Authority, Annual Report 1991-2, Canberra: AGPS, 1992, p. 6.
Food processing and beverages industries interim report on government regulation of packaging and labelling, no. 417, Canberra: Industries Assistance Commission, 1989. p. 5. |
|
1989 |
The New South Wales Food Act was passed. |
|
|
1989 |
Commonwealth food policy became the responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Consumer Affairs (FBCA). The Australian Food Standards Committee (AFSC) members comprised representatives from the NHMRC, Commonwealth departments, State and Territory health authorities, industry, consumer organisations and academia. Its function was to review provisions of the FSC. Recommendations of the AFSC were considered by the NHMRC's Public Health Committee; either in or out of session. The standards were then referred to the National Food Standards Council that comprised State Health Ministers and the Commonwealth Minister for Consumer Affairs. The NFSC was supported by the Uniform Food Law Interpretation Committee (UFLIC), a Commonwealth/State body. Food standards were usually gazetted in July. Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory adopted identical standards while the remaining jurisdictions agreed to make regulations with a similar intent. |
National Food Authority, Annual; Report 1991-2, Canberra: AGPS, 1992, p. 6. Food processing and beverages industries interim
report, op. cit, |
|
1990 |
A Commonwealth Department of Industry, Technology and Commerce report concluded that State and Federal Government regulations, and regulatory procedures in general, and those covering food safety and standards in particular, proliferated without serious concern for their impact on production costs and new product development. In addition, fragmented and uncoordinated State and Commonwealth capabilities, and few ongoing collaborative links between public research organisations and the industry, had an impact on Australia's future competitiveness. |
Don Scott-Kemmis et al., for the Department of Industry, Technology and Commerce, Innovation and competitiveness in the Australian processed food industry, Canberra: AGPS, 1990, p. 5. |
|
1990 |
The October Special Premiers' Conference agreement supported the nationalisation of Australian food regulation. |
|
|
1991 |
The National Food Authority Act 1991, assented to on 27 June 1991, established the National Food Authority (NFA). Responsible to the Minister for Human Services and Health, it was to prepare and recommend standards to the NFSC. The Act provided a focus for cooperation between governments, industry and the community to assist industry in providing a safe and wholesome food supply. In particular, the aim was to provide uniformity and consolidation of food standards recommended by the National Food Authority (later ANZFA) and approved by the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Council (ANZFSC). The NFA was set up to provide a federal coordinating body for a variety of food standards and regulations at Commonwealth, State and Territory levels with a view to consistent domestic and international trade objectives. The NRA sought reforms which were stated to include issues such as the consolidation of the responsibility for domestic food standards development with a minimum number of decision-making layers, uniformity between jurisdictions, establishment of objectives for food standards, promotion of the coordination of domestic and international food standards, open and accountable arrangements and retention of the involvement of States and Territories in standards development and administration. Under the Act the NFA was also responsible for developing food inspection policies for imported food. The National Food Authority Advisory Committee was the principal source of advice from States, Territories and New Zealand on broader food policy issues. |
Australia New Zealand Food Authority. Annual Report 1997-8, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 1998, p. 6.
National Food Authority, Annual Report 1991-2, Canberra: AGPS, 1992, p. 6. National Food Authority, Annual Report 1991-2, Canberra: AGPS, 1992, p. 2. |
|
1991 |
The second National Foods Standards Agreement reached on 30 July provided for the recognition of the NFA and committed the States and Territories to the adoption of food standards after majority decisions by the NFSC. Food standards were automatically adopted by reference, through respective jurisdictional Food Acts, when gazetted by the Commonwealth. |
Agreement between the Commonwealth of Australia, the States, the Northern Territory of Australia and the Australian Capital Territory in relation to the adoption of uniform food standards, Canberra: Australian Government Solicitor, 1991. See also Des Sibraa, 'National Food Authority after four years', Product liability, vol. 6 no. 2: p. 1, 1995. |
|
1991 |
Dietary guidelines for Australians and Recommended dietary intakes for use in Australia were released by the NHMRC (currently under review). |
NHMRC web site at: http://www.health.gov.au/ |
|
1992 |
The national Food and Nutrition Policy was launched. |
Strategic Inter-Governmental Nutrition Alliance of the National Public Health Partnership, Eat well Australia. An agenda for action for public health nutrition 2000 2010 (draft), Canberra: (the Partnership, c2000), p. 8. |
|
1992 |
The ACT's Food Act was passed. |
|
|
1992 |
The Mutual Recognition Act 1992, a catalyst for the current movement towards uniformity of food regulations, was passed. Freedom of movement of goods and services was the purpose of the Act. |
|
|
1992 |
The National Health and Medical Research Council Act 1992 established the NHMRC as a statutory body. |
|
|
1993 |
The NFA's Policy Review proposed a review of existing food standards (chapter 10). |
|
|
1993 |
Tables of Composition of Australian Aboriginal Foods werepublished. |
Janette Brand Miller, Tables of Composition of Australian Aboriginal Foods, Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, 1993. |
|
1994 |
The National Food Authority proposed national food safety programs based on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP). |
|
|
1995 |
Two World Trade Organisation agreements arising from the 1994 GATT Uruguay Round entered into force, namely, the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Agreement (SPS Agreement) and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT). These two agreements strengthened the importance of Codex Alimentarius food standards. In turn, Australia's food standards were examined in order to harmonise with Codex standards. The Codex Statements of Principle was adopted. The Statements stipulate science based decision making as well as the use of food labelling for the protection of health and trade concerns. |
SPS Agreement web site at: http://www.wto.org/english/ TBT Agreement web site at: http://www.wto.org/english/ Statements of Principle web site at: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/ |
|
1995 |
The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) undertook an audit that included ANZFA. Recommendations included the engagement of AQIS, the States/ Territories and local government in developing an integrated national food safety strategy. |
'Food safety regulation in Australia. Australian New Zealand Food Authority Follow-up Audit', Audit Report no. 45, 1998-99, Canberra: ANAO, 1999, p. 9 |
|
1995 |
Agreement with New Zealand for a joint food standard setting system was reached. |
|
|
1995 |
The National Food Authority Amendment Act 1995 was assented to on 16 December. |
|
|
1995 |
The death of a South Australian child from Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome (HUS) and the hospitalisation of 20 others after eating mettwurst manufactured by Garibaldi Smallgoods led to strengthened national food regulation for fermented meat products. |
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1995 |
The NHMRC's Dietary guidelines for children & adolescents was released (currently under review). |
NHMRC web site at: http://www.health.gov.au/nhmrc/ |
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1995 |
The National Nutrition Survey was undertaken by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. |
Nutrient intakes and physical measurements: National Nutrition
Survey, Australia, 1995, Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics,
1998, web site at the Department of Health and Aged Care web site
at: http://www.health.gov.au/pubhlth/ |
|
1996 |
The Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Arrangement was signed by COAG on 14 June and by the Prime Minister of New Zealand on 9 July. The agreement built on previous agreements aimed at integrating Australian and New Zealand economies. The TTMRA permits goods, including foodstuffs to be freely traded between both countries, with some exceptions. |
A user's guide to the trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Arrangement (TTMRA) Between the Commonwealth of Australia, the Australian States and Territories and New Zealand, Canberra: Council of Australian Governments Committee on Regulatory Reform, 1998, p. 9. |
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1996 |
The Treaty between Australia and New Zealand establishing a System for the Development of Joint Food Standards came into force to help harmonise food standards, reduce compliance costs and remove regulatory barriers to trade in food. |
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1996 |
ANZFA released the proposed national food hygiene standards. |
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1996 |
42 people were infected in the Salmonella mbandaka outbreak in Victoria and South Australia. |
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1996 |
Stage 1 National Public Health Nutrition Strategy (NPHNS). The creation of SIGNAL (Strategic Inter-Governmental Nutrition Alliance) was recommended. |
Eat well Australia (draft), op. cit, p. 9. |
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1997 |
In March, the Prime Minister announced that food regulation would be reviewed. The costs and complexity of existing food regulations were seen to hamper industry. The final report of the Small Business Deregulation Taskforce recommended a review of food regulation. Widespread community consultation took place: focus groups having been established to assist the Review Secretariat. |
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1997 |
The Strategic Inter-Governmental Nutrition Alliance (SIGNAL) was established as the nutrition arm of the National Public Health Partnership (NPHP). |
Department of Health and Aged Care web site op. cit. |
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1997 |
In Victoria, food poisoning cases involving salmonella infected pork rolls were attributed to a Springvale bakery. |
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1997 |
The National Safe Food System was released by the National Safe Food Working Group established by the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Resource Management (SCARM), the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture (SCFA) and the Australia New Zealand Food Authority Advisory Committee (ANZFAAC). |
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1997 |
The Victorian Food Hygiene Strategy: a fresh approach was introduced and the Food Act 1984 was amended by the Food (Amendment) Act 1997. This came into force in December 1997. Conditions that registered food businesses were required to meet included the submission of a Food Safety Program that was to be audited periodically by a third party auditor. Also, food safety instructors were required for food handlers. |
Nives Dall'Oglio, 'Victorian food safety reforms', Property
& environmental law bulletin, vol. 53, Sept-Dec 2000, |
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1997 |
The Australia New Zealand Food Authority Act (No.2) 1997 was assented to on 16 December. |
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1998 |
The TTMRA came into force. |
A user's guide to the TTMRA, op. cit., p. 9. |
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1998 |
Food: a growth industry, the food regulation review report, chaired by Bill Blair was released. The review sought ways to reduce the regulatory burden of Australia's food regulation regime while maintaining public health and safety imperatives. |
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1998 |
The National Office of Food Safety was created in the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry - Australia, from existing functions within the Department. |
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1998 |
Standard A18: Food Produced Using Gene Technology was adopted by ANZFSC in July and gazetted on 13 August. In December ANZFSC ministers decided to revise the labelling provisions for all GM (genetically modified) foods. |
Rosemary Polya, Genetically modified foods-are we worried yet? Canberra: Dept of the Parliamentary Library, 1999, p. 12, web site at: http://www.aph.gov.au/library/. |
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1998 |
The Australian guide to healthy eating was released. |
Department of Health and Aged Care web site, op. cit. |
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1998 |
The National review of food and nutrition activities in local government was released. |
Department of Health and Aged Care web site, op. cit. |
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1998 |
84 cases of Salmonella oranienburg derived food poisoning were attributed to a South Australian gelati product. |
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1998 |
A NSW survey by Microtech Laboratories identified that one in seven school lunches contained bacteria that constituted a food poisoning risk. |
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1999 |
An ANZFA study concluded that Australia's current food hygiene regulatory system costs $18.6 million (net) to enforce, and small business $337 million in compliance costs each year. Yet 11,500 consumers contract foodborne disease every day, costing the Australian community over $2.6 billion every year ... It argued that reducing foodborne illness by just 20 per cent would realise an annual saving to the Australian community of over $500 million. The report noted that these figures were obtained by extrapolating from overseas incidences and are estimates only. |
Food safety standards costs and benefits: an analysis of the regulatory impact of the proposed national food safety reforms, Canberra: ANZFA, 1999, p. xiii. |
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1999 |
A National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nutrition Working Party was established in May to oversee the development of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nutrition Strategy and Action Plan. |
The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nutrition Working Party, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nutrition Strategy and Action Plan 2000-10 and first phase activities 2000-03, [Canberra: The Working Party, c2000.] |
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1999 |
ANZFA found that there were no public health and safety concerns re the first GM food applications, namely, Monsanto's Roundup Ready Soybeans (glyphosate-tolerant soybean line 40-3-2) and Ingard Cottonseed (from lines 531, 757, 1076 and 1849). |
ANZFA completes assessment for first two genetically modified foods
in Australia and New Zealand, ANZFA Media release |
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1999 |
The Dietary guidelines for older Australians were published. |
Department of Health and Aged Care web site, op. cit. |
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1999 |
A follow-up audit of ANZFA by the Australian National Audit Office, Food safety regulation in Australia found that ANZFA's coordination and knowledge of food surveillance activities and outcomes have improved little since the 1995 Audit. Neither had any food recall audits been undertaken since the 1995 Audit. The Audit considered that if ANZFA improved its food surveillance coordination in conjunction with the implementation of the food safety standards, together they would have a major impact on the protection of public health and safety. |
Food safety regulation in Australia, op. cit., pp. 11-22. |
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1999 |
The Australia New Zealand Food Authority Amendment Bill 1999 was introduced and referred to Committee. |
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1999 |
ANZFA released the Exposure Draft of Food (name of jurisdiction) Bill 1999 along with explanatory paper: The development of uniform food acts for Australia and New Zealand. |
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1999 |
On 3 August ANZFSC approved a standard for the irradiation of food. The Council also agreed to mandatory labelling of GM foods. |
Additional information now available about Health Ministers decisions
on GM labelling, food irradiation, food safety and cadmium in peanuts,
ANZFSC Media advisory, |
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1999 |
The Australia New Zealand Food Authority Amendment Act 1999 was passed on 9 December and was assented to on 23 December 2000. Under the Act, ANZFA, rather than the health ministers, was to deal with less significant applications and proposals for draft food standards and variations in certain limited circumstances. (ANZFA did not make use of these powers at the time, but intend to now that the ANZFA Amendment Act 2001 has passed). Other changes included clarification of the role and objectives of ANZFA and the ability of ANZFA to charge for some services. |
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1999 |
Further reforms proposed by the Victorian government included requiring local governments to manage the auditing process, simplification of the training provisions, narrowing Food Safety Program requirements for community and charitable organisations and protecting local governments from some of the liability provisions of the Act. |
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2000 |
On 28 July ANZFSC approved three out of the four proposed food safety standards for Australia, namely, Standard 3.1.1 Interpretation and Application, Standard 3.2.2 Food Safety Practices, General Requirements, and Standard 3.2.3 Food Premises and Equipment which were to be enforceable from February 2001, subject to the State and Territory legislation. However, skills and knowledge and notification requirements will not be enforceable until February 2002 to allow time for businesses to comply. The fourth proposed standard, Standard 3.2.1 Food Safety Programs is due to be considered in 2001 after costs of the programs to businesses and the degree of food-borne illness in Australia have been examined. Meanwhile, ANZFSC agreed that the States and Territories could treat the standard as a model standard, introducing it if and when they wish. The standards are based on an outcomes rather than a prescriptive approach. |
[an update of State and Territory legislative changes] Food standards news. Special edition, March 2001, pp. 1-4. |
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2000 |
On 28 July ANZFSC decided on GM labelling issues pertaining to Standard A18 (Standard 1.5.2). The decision allows for an ingredient to contain up to 1 per cent unintended presence of genetically modified product but requires labelling of all other foods containing novel components or altered characteristics due to them, bar highly refined foods, flavours and food prepared at the point of sale. ANZFSC also approved the first two GM foods, Roundup Ready soy and Ingard cotton for inclusion in Standard A18. |
Australia New Zealand Food Standards Council decisions (including genetically modified foods) Friday 28 July 2000, p. 2, Media Advisory, The Council, web site at: http://www.anzfa.gov.au. |
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2000 |
At March and August ARMCANZ (Agriculture and Resource Management Council of Australia and New Zealand) meetings details about the Government's progress towards a response to the Blair Review and the activities of RAT (National Safe Food Working Group's (NFSWG) Risk Analysis Team and CAT (Communications Advisory Team) were reported. In resolution 2H, given that the processed food industry has a turnover of $46 billion, comprising 4000 firms and employing 174 000, Council agreed that it had a role to play in food issues. It further agreed that SCARM (the Standing Committee) establish a Food Committee under its Industries Competitiveness Committee looking primarily at international trade reform, quality and safety, innovation, enterprise competitiveness, capacity building and infrastructure. |
ARMCANZ Record and resolutions web site at: http://www.affa.gov.au/docs/ |
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2000 |
In August, publication of the guidelines to Australia's food safety standards, ANZFA's Safe Food Australia. |
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2000 |
The non-mandatory Retail Grocery Industry Code was released on September 13. Because it is neither a prescribed voluntary or mandatory code under Part IVB of the Trade Practices Act (TPAct) breaches will not be subject to penalties under the TPAct. |
Ayman Guirguis and Lisa Gaddie, 'Retail Grocery Code of Conduct'-a first step for reform', Foodmonitor vol. 6(5), pp. 5-6, 2001. |
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2000 |
The first application for the inclusion of irradiated foods in Standard A17 of the FSC was received by ANZFA from Steritech Pty Ltd. |
Application A413: Irradiation of herbs and spices, nuts, seeds and teas, Canberra: ANZFA, 2000, web site at: http://www.anzfa.gov.au/ |
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2000 |
The draft Model Food Bill (now Model Food Provisions Annex A and Model Food Provisions-Annex B) was released in October. When the States and Territories pass their Model Food Bill legislation, Annex A will be uniformly applied while Annex B will vary between jurisdictions. The Annexes were included in the November 2000 inter-governmental agreement and provide a legislative basis for a "substantially equivalent" nationally uniform food safety regime. |
Draft Model Food Bill, 2000, web site at: http://www.anzfa.gov.au Model Food Provisions Annex A and B, web site at: http://www.anzfa.gov.au Food regulation agreement 2000, web site at: http://www.anzfa.gov.au |
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2000 |
The ANZFSC adopted the new joint Australia New Zealand Food
Standards Code on 24 November, a culmination of a six year review
of existing food standards. This is the first time Australia and
New Zealand have had a joint food code. The new Code, gazetted on
December 20, will be phased in over a two year period. In December
2002 the joint Code will be fully in force. After the transition
period New Zealand will continue to have different food safety and
maximum residue level (MRL) standards. The development of individual
standards incorporated into the new joint Code attracted considerable
controversy, for example, the labelling of the percentage of ingredients
in foods, nutrition information and genetically modified or irradiated
foods. The new joint Code, available at ANZFA's web site, comprises
three parts, |
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2000 |
On 3 November, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) reached a new intergovernmental food agreement in partial response to the Blair Review. The 1999 ANZFA Amendment Act, along with the 2001 Bill (see below) were also, in part, responses to the Blair Review. The agreement provided for the current food authority, ANZFA, to be superseded by a new statutory agency Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). FSANZ will have increased responsibilities in the development of food regulatory measures. Other jurisdictional portfolios such as trade or agriculture will be represented on the new ministerial council, in addition to health ministers, in order to provide a broader approach. Some perceived a risk that jurisdictional health ministers' opinions may no longer be reflected in the one vote each jurisdiction is permitted to cast in the Ministerial Council. The intention is that the Ministerial Council will set policy and the Authority will develop and adopt standards. |
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2000 |
Standard A18-Food Produced Using Gene Technology was gazetted in December. |
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2000 |
The Gene Technology Act 2000 was passed in December. The object of the Act is to manage gene technology risks to the health and safety of people and the environment. |
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2001 |
In January, funding for three new Co-operative Research Centres for food related issues, namely, the CRC for Innovative Dairy Products in Victoria, the CRC for Sustainable Aquaculture and Finfish in Adelaide and the CRC for Value Added Wheat in Sydney was announced. |
Senator the Hon. N. Minchin, $325m Commonwealth funding for research
centres, Media Release 01/002, Senator the Hon. N. Minchin,
18 January 2001, web site at: http://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ |
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2001 |
Australia New Zealand Food Authority Bill 2001 was introduced in the Senate on February 8. |
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2001 |
The appointment of ten ANZFA Scientific Fellows to augment ANZFA activities was announced in February. The ANZFA Chairman stated that: The introduction of genetically modified foods and the BSE (mad cow) problem have shown that issues can emerge which can stretch the boundaries of our scientific understanding ... We are attempting to further improve our scientific and technical competency and to enhance our standing as an authoritative and credible science-based regulator-not simply for its own sake, but to maintain public confidence in the safety of out food supply. |
'Food Authority appoints scientific fellows', ANZFA Media Release Friday 23 February 2001, web site at: http://www.anzfa.gov.au. |
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2001 |
On 28 February three of the four proposed food safety standards came into effect. |
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2001 |
On 28 February the ANZFA Amendment Bill 2001 was referred to the Community Affairs Legislation Committee and the Committee report was tabled on 4 April. It included minority reports from Labor, Democrats and Greens. The Bill was read for a second time on 8 April with the Bill to be further considered on the first day of the 2001 winter sittings. |
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2001 |
The Communicable Disease Network of Australia (CDN), with assistance from the National Centre of Epidemiology (NCE) and the Population Health and Public Health Laboratory Network embarked on OzFoodNet. This study will examine food-borne disease at a national level, estimating the incidence of food-borne disease, improving epidemiological understanding through active surveillance and studies on pathogens, training investigators, and identifying dangerous food handling practices. |
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2001 |
At their March meeting, ARMCANZ confirmed the National Standards for Egg Labelling. |
ARMCANZ Communique |
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2001 |
On 13 March the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Hon. Warren Truss MP announced the National Food Industry Strategy, a food action agenda, which will provide a strategic approach for food industry development. The strategy is expected to be released by the end of 2001. |
'Minister announces National Food Industry Strategy', Food
news bulletin, June 2001, p. 2-3, web site at: http://www.affa.gov.au/outputs/ |
|
2001 |
April saw the introduction of proposed amendments to the Victorian Food Act 1984 that pertain to the three approved food safety standards and the core provisions of the Model Food 2001. The Victorian Bill was passed but was not proclaimed at the time of writing. |
Food Safety Victoria, web site at: http://www.foodsafety.vic.gov.au |
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2001 |
The NHMRC released Framework for management of drinking water quality for public consultation in May. |
NHMRC web site at: http://www.health.gov.au/nhmrc/ |
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2001 |
On 28 June Labor and Democrat amendments to the ANZFA Bill legislated for new food board members to be primarily drawn from public health, consumer and science backgrounds. Labor amendments ensured that the Ministerial Council could continue to amend food standards. A form of the precautionary principle was included in the Act's objective. Additionally, it was agreed that the Prime Minister would write to all State and Territory Premiers to propose changes to COAG's intergovernmental food agreement so that the lead jurisdictional ministers would be health ministers on the Ministerial Council. |
'Labor strengthens food safety regulator', Media Release,
Alan Griffin MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Minister
for Health, |
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2001 |
On 29 June the ANZFA Amendment Bill 2001 was passed. The legislation established the statutory authority Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) which while replacing ANZFA will be based on that body. (The date of assent was 10 July 2001.) |
'Government delighted as new food bill passes federal parliament: Tambling', Media Release, Senator the Hon. Grant Tambling, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Aged Care, 29 June 2001. |
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2001 |
The NHMRC released the Draft dietary guidelines for Australians and Draft dietary guidelines for children and adolescents, infant feeding guidelines for publicconsultation in July as part of the review process of existing guidelines. |
NHMRC web site at: http://www.health.gov.au/nhmrc/ |
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2001 |
31 July saw the first meeting of the new food standards council, the newly constituted ANZFSC (the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Council). While changes to the Treaty with New Zealand were reported to be proceeding, in the transition period, the existing Treaty and the COAG Food Regulation Agreement 2000 would be followed. Health Ministers were the lead Ministers. It was noted that necessary jurisdictional legislative changes were in train. |
Australia New Zealand Food Standards Council, First Meeting of New Standards Council: A Whole of Food Chain Approach to Food Safety Regulations, ANZFSC Joint Communique, 31 July 2001, web site at: http://www.anzfa.gov.au |
|
2001 |
New standards approved by the Ministers on 31 July included labelling of Formulated Caffeinated Beverages, Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for 12 antibiotics used in animals, compositional standards for "icon" foods-chocolate, fruit drinks and juice, peanut butter, jam, cream, milk and icecream. The sweetener Neotame was approved in the interests of those with phenylketonuria (The inability to use the amino acid phenylalanine which can lead to mental deficiency). Five more genetically modified foods were approved. The Food Regulation Standing Committee was directed to develop a policy framework for |