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Objectives of the Imported Food Control Act
The Imported Food Control Act was passed because of the perceived market failure in relation to imported foods (see Section 2). The Review Committee has considered the benefits and costs of the current legislation (Section 5) and has investigated alternative legislative strategies (Section 6), with the general conclusion that legislation should be retained. It is important, then, to properly define the objectives of the legislation.
The Act has, as its primary objective, protection of public health, by ensuring food safety, but this objective is not clearly stated in the legislation. The long title of the Act is:
An Act to provide for the inspection and control of food imported into Australia, and for related purposes.
It does not directly mention the protection of public health, which was given some emphasis in the Bill's second reading speech, where Minister Griffiths stated that the Act aimed "at ensuring imported foods meet the same Australian food standards as local product", and that "the focus will remain on public health matters, but enforcement of other food standards requirements will be included in the scope of the inspection program" (House of Representatives 1992). The Explanatory Memorandum stated that the Act made "imported foods subject to monitoring both for . . . safety from a consumer health perspective and for compliance within the broader provisions of the Australian Food Standards Code" (Senate 1992).
The Committee is of the opinion that the objectives of the Act should be clearly stated in the legislation. The Office of Regulation Review (1997) has stated that:
The objective of the regulatory initiative should be specified. The objective should not be specified so as to align with (and thus pre-justify) the particular effects of the proposed regulation. Rather, is should be specified in relation to the underlying problem.
The Review Committee is of the opinion that the primary objective should be to ensure that food consumed in Australia from imported sources complies with Australian food standards and general public health and safety requirements. The Committee is also of the opinion that the Act should be sufficiently flexible to be compatible with advances in food processing and food safety. The Committee also noted the requirement for legislation to be:
- consistent with Australia's international obligations and trade objectives; and
- consistent with National Competition Policy principles.
The legislation should deliver a program that is:
- risk-based;
- transparent;
- efficient and effective;
- performance-based;
- flexible, enforceable and promotes consistent and predictable outcomes;
- minimal in its imposition of compliance and paper burden costs on industry, and small business in particular;
- able to provide the appropriate incentives for full and mature industry participation;
- dedicated to fair and equitable outcomes;
- effective and efficient in its interrelationship with other agencies; and
- consultative in its development and administration.
The Imported Food Control Act and the Imported Food Inspection Program need not duplicate government controls of all aspects of the domestic food safety and standards system, ie, the Food Standards Code, the Food Acts, Fair Trading Acts and the Food Hygiene Standards. State and Territory authorities remain responsible for regulating misleading labelling/trade description of all products offered for sale on the Australian domestic market, including imported food products.
The Imported Food Control Act and IFIP should be responsible for those areas of regulation where intervention at the border is the most effective and efficient means of controlling imports. Primarily, those areas are public health and safety requirements, which are, in the main, to be found in the food standards that comprise the Food Standards Code. That Code also includes certain labelling requirements. For administrative efficiency, these should remain within the scope of the Act and IFIP. There should be a range of measures to assure food safety, including certification agreements, quality assurance arrangements, inspection and end-product testing.
The objective of the Imported Food Control Act is to provide for the compliance of imported food with the Australian public health and food standards.