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 1 of Part 3 of the FSANZ Act specifies that the Authority may accept applications for the development or variation of food regulatory measures, including standards. This Division also stipulates the procedure for considering an application for the development or variation of food regulatory measures.
FSANZ accepted Application A1070 which seeks to remove the current restrictions on portion weights for cheese and processed cheese enriched with tall oil phytosterol esters. The Authority considered the Application in accordance with Division 1 of Part 3 and has approved a draft variation to Standard 2.5.4.
Following consideration by COAG Legislative and Governance 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 and operation
The Authority has approved a draft variation to Standard 2.5.4 by deleting paragraph 3(b) which requires phytosterol-enriched cheese and processed cheese to be supplied in an individual portion, the weight of which is not greater than 50 g (the portion weight restriction).
The variation removing the individual portion weight restriction will enable phytosterol-enriched cheese and processed cheese products to be sold in comparable portion weights to non-phytosterol-enriched products.
Removing the portion weight restriction for phytosterol-enriched cheese products is expected to allow manufacturers to produce portion weights that are more attractive to retailers, and hence an increased availability and visibility of product for consumers.
The portion weight restriction was originally proposed as one of the risk management options to limit the consumption of phytosterol-enriched cheese and cheese products by non-target consumers, comparable to the earlier restrictions applied to milk and yoghurt. The other risk management measures, including the mandatory advisory label requirements, are considered by FSANZ to be sufficient for this purpose. Recently, FSANZ approved the removal of the package volume restriction for phytosterol-enriched milk which was gazetted in October 2012.
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 1 of Part 3 of the FSANZ Act, the Authority’s consideration of Application A1070 has included one round of public consultation following an assessment and the preparation of a draft variation and associated report. Submissions were called for on 5 September 2012 for a six-week consultation period.
A Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) was not required because the proposed variation to Standard 2.5.4 was likely to have a minor impact on business and individuals and was deemed to be a de-regulation.
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
The variation deletes paragraph 3(b) of Standard 2.5.4. In doing so, the variation removes the individual portion weight restriction for phytosterol-enriched cheese and processed cheese so they can be sold in any appropriate portion weight, determined by commercial considerations.
[1] Previously known as the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council