Communique – Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation

The Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation (the Forum) recently met to consider a range of food regulation matters. The Forum oversees the collaborative joint Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation System. It comprises all Australian and New Zealand Ministers responsible for food regulation, and the Australian Local Government Association, and is chaired by the Australian Government Minister for Rural Health, Senator the Hon. Bridget McKenzie.

Mayor Karen Williams, Mayor of Redland City Council in Queensland, attended as ALGA’s representative.

During the meeting, the Forum made progress on a number of activities that shape the implementation of the three Food Regulation System priorities for 2017- 2021.

  1. Reducing foodborne illness, including salmonella and campylobacter

A key activity in the priority to Reduce foodborne illness, particularly related to Campylobacter & Salmonella has today been endorsed and Forum Ministers are very pleased to launch the Australian Foodborne Illness Reduction Strategy 2018-2021+. This strategy is the result of extensive national and jurisdictional consultation with stakeholders.

  1. Obesity and overweight reduction measures

Forum Ministers endorsed the Consultation Summary Report: Review of fast food menu labelling schemes, and agreed that further targeted consultation is to be undertaken to develop policy options that aim to improve and strengthen fast food menu labelling in Australia. A broader range of stakeholders will be engaged in the next stage of the consultation. The Consultation Summary Report will be available on the Food Regulation website shortly.

  1. Maintaining a strong, agile and robust food regulation system.

The Australian and New Zealand economies greatly benefit from the Food Regulation System successfully assuring food safety and maintaining our reputation for safe food.

  • awareness of and responsiveness to technological and business innovations;
  • strengthening engagement and partnerships with stakeholders; and
  • supporting the Food Regulation System with robust data and monitoring.

As part of this work the FRSC will explore our readiness to respond to innovation such as ‘smart label’ technology and is working with industry and other stakeholders to understand how the Food Regulation System can accommodate – and leverage – this new technology.

The full communique of outcomes from the Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation meeting held on 29 June 2018 is available on the Food Regulation website.