Explanatory Statement
1. Authority
Section 13 of the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991 (the FSANZ Act) provides that the functions of Food Standards Australia New Zealand (the Authority) include the development of standards and variations of standards for inclusion in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Code).
Division 2 of Part 3 of the FSANZ Act specifies that the Authority may prepare a proposal for the development or variation of food regulatory measures, including standards. This Division also stipulates the procedure for considering a proposal for the development or variation of food regulatory measures.
The Authority prepared Proposal P1035 – Gluten Claims about Foods containing Alcohol to amend Standard 1.2.7 – Nutrition, Health and Related Claims to permit nutrition content claims about gluten in relation to food containing more than 1.15% alcohol by volume. The Authority considered the Proposal in accordance with Division 2 of Part 3 and has approved a draft variation of Standards 1.2.7 and 1.2.8.
Following consideration by the Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation[1], section 92 of the FSANZ Act stipulates that the Authority must publish a notice about the standard or draft variation of a standard.
Section 94 of the FSANZ Act specifies that a standard, or a variation of a standard, in relation to which a notice is published under section 92 is a legislative instrument, but is not subject to parliamentary disallowance or sunsetting under the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
2. Purpose
The Authority has approved a draft variation to Standard 1.2.7 to permit nutrition content claims about gluten in relation to food containing more than 1.15% alcohol by volume.
The Authority has also approved a draft variation to Standards 1.1.2, and 1.2.8 to provide an exemption from the requirement to provide nutrition information if a nutrition content claim about gluten content, using the descriptor ‘free’ or a similar descriptor, is made in relation to an alcoholic beverage standardised in Standards 2.7.2 to 2.7.5 or a beverage containing no less than 0.5% alcohol by volume.
3. Documents incorporated by reference
The variations to food regulatory measures do not incorporate any documents by reference.
4. Consultation
In accordance with the procedure in Division 2 of Part 3 of the FSANZ Act, the Authority’s consideration of Proposal P1035 included one round of public consultation following an assessment and the preparation of a draft Standard and associated report. Submissions were called for on 14 November 2014 for a six-week consultation period.
Targeted consultation was also carried out with key stakeholders regarding an exemption from the requirement to declare a nutrition information panel if a gluten claim is made about a beverage containing alcohol.
A Regulation Impact Statement was not required because the proposed variations to Standards 1.1.2, 1.2.7 and 1.2.8 are likely to have a minor impact on business and individuals.
5. Statement of compatibility with human rights
This instrument is exempt from the requirements for a statement of compatibility with human rights as it is a non-disallowable instrument under section 94 of the FSANZ Act.
6. Variation
Item [1] amends Standard 1.1.2.
Item [1.1] amends the definition of ‘claim requiring nutrition information’ in subsection 1.1.2—2(3) to provide that a prescribed beverage gluten free claim is not a claim requiring nutrition information. The effect of the amendment is to exempt prescribed beverages from the requirements for nutrition information when a prescribed beverage gluten free claim is made.
Item [1.2] adds definitions of the terms ‘prescribed beverage’ and ‘prescribed beverage gluten free claim’ to subsection 1.1.2—2(3).
A prescribed beverage is a standardised alcoholic beverage (beer, brandy, cider, fruit wine, fruit wine product, liqueur, mead, perry, spirit, vegetable wine, vegetable wine product, wine or wine product) or a beverage containing no less than 0.5% alcohol by volume.
A prescribed beverage gluten free claim is a nutrition content claim in relation to the gluten content of a prescribed beverage that uses the descriptor ‘free’ or a synonym of such a descriptor.
Item [2] amends section 1.2.7—4 of Standard 1.2.7 by inserting a reference to gluten content in the section. The effect of the amendment is to permit nutrition content claims about gluten content to be made in relation to a food that contains more than 1.15% alcohol by volume.
Any nutrition content claim made about the gluten content of a food would have to be made in accordance with the conditions specified in section 1.2.7—12 and Schedule S4–3.
Item [3] omits the definition of claim requiring nutrition information from the first Note to section 1.2.8—4 and replaces it with a new definition, as a consequence of the amendments made to this definition by item [1.1].
[1] convening as the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council