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 A1083 which seeks to amend maximum residue limits (MRLs) listed in Schedule 1 of Standard 1.4.2 to include Azoxystrobin, Fenhexamid and Fludioxonil in blueberries and Bifenthrin in raspberries. The Authority considered the Application in accordance with Division 1 of Part 3 and has approved a draft Standard.
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
The Authority has approved a variation to Standard 1.4.2 to include Azoxystrobin, Fenhexamid and Fludioxonil in blueberries and Bifenthrin in raspberries. The approved variation promotes consistency between domestic and international regulations and supports global trade with a net benefit to the community.
Standard 1.4.2 lists the limits for agricultural and veterinary chemical residues which may occur in foods. If a limit is not listed for a particular agricultural or veterinary chemical/food combination, there must be no detectable residues of that chemical in that food. In the absence of the relevant limit in the Code, the food may not be sold where there are detectable residues.
MRL variations are required to permit the sale of foods containing legitimate residues. Internationally, farmers face different pest and disease pressures and therefore agricultural and veterinary chemical use patterns, and the legitimate residues in food associated with these uses, may vary accordingly.
A dietary exposure assessment was conducted for Azoxystrobin, Fenhexamid and Fludioxonil in blueberries and Bifenthrin in raspberries to ensure that proposed limits do not present any public health or safety concerns.
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 3 of Part 1 of the FSANZ Act, the Authority’s consideration of Application A1083 included one round of public consultation following an assessment and the preparation of a draft Standard and associated report. Submissions were called for on 23 March 2012 for a four-week consultation period.
FSANZ also made a Sanitary and Phytosanitary notification to the World Trade Organization
(WTO) in the interests of openness and transparency.
A Regulation Impact Statement was not required because the proposed variations to Standard 1.4.2 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 sets out proposed amendments to Schedule 1 of Standard 1.4.2 inserting new entries for the chemicals listed. The entries include the chemical name, residue definition, foods and associated MRLs. This item incorporates the new entries in alphabetical order among the chemicals listed in the Schedule.
[1] Previously known as the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council