Food Review Final Documents Released
The biggest review for 30 years of all legislation and regulations around food sold in NZ is entering its final consultation stage, with the release by the NZ Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) of a position paper on the Domestic Food Review.
Anybody involved the production, distribution or sale of food in NZ is likely to be affected by these proposed changes to the way food is regulated. Among those most likely to be affected by the proposals are small food businesses that do not currently have food control plans, risk management programmes or similar.
The position paper and supporting information covers all of the areas we have already consulted on, includes ideas and feedback received, covers some new areas and includes extra detail on things like sanctions for non-compliance, examples of what small businesses might need to do, and how food safety education for fundraisers could be developed.
NZFSA is looking at two main levels of food safety management. The core level, in which most cafes, corner dairies and so on will fall, will be covered by food control plans. There are two types of food control plans: off-the-peg templates provided at no cost will suit most small businesses and require little more than filling in the required information before registration and verification; and custom-made plans. These are similar to what many businesses already operate under, and the intention is to make the move from these to food control plans as seamless as possible.
The other level is food handler guidance, which will be educational information for small one-off events such as fundraisers.
In addition to these proposed requirements, the position paper outlines how approval and verification will be approached, and covers new options for both rewarding compliance and sanctioning non-compliance.
Submissions on the Domestic Food Review Position Paper close on 28 April 2006. The NZFSA position paper, available online or in hardcopy from NZFSA, is accompanied by a short summary document and a plain language brochure. These can be downloaded from www.nzfsa.govt.nz, or hardcopies posted at no charge by calling 0800 NZFSA1 (0800 693 721) |
Contact for Enquiries
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Pastoral House
25 The Terrace
PO Box 2526, Wellington
Tel: 0800 00 83 33
Fax: +64 4 894 0720
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