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.
FSANZ prepared Proposal M1013 to update Schedule 20 (commencing 1 March 2016) to reflect amendments made to Schedule 1 of current Standard 1.4.2 in 2015 and to correct technical and formatting errors. The Authority considered the Proposal in accordance with Division 2 of Part 3 and has prepared a draft Standard.
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 prepared the Proposal to incorporate gazetted amendments to Schedule 1 of current Standard 1.4.2 made by the following:
- Proposal M1010
- Proposal M1012
- all amendments made by the APVMA in 2015 (up to APVMA 10, 2015)
- correct formatting and other minor technical errors.
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 M1013 will include one round of public consultation following an assessment and the preparation of a draft Standard and associated assessment summary. Submissions were called for on 25 September 2015 for a four-week consultation period.
A Regulation Impact Statement was not required because the proposed variations to Schedule 20 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] corrects a typographical error in the numbering of the Note to the Schedule.
Item [2] repeals and replaces the table to section S20—3 to include variations relating to maximum residue limits amendments made to the existing Code (Schedule 1 of Standard 1.4.2) made by FSANZ (Proposals M1010 and M1012) and the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) during 2015 (up to APVMA 10, 2015) and to correct typographical and other minor errors.
[1] convening as the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council