Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the bill be now read a second time.

Australia has a world-class food safety management system. Our exported food is highly sought after internationally due to our world-class food safety reputation. This benefits our farmers, our economy, and our nation as a leading exporter of high quality safe food. It is essential that we ensure food being brought into Australia is safe. As globalisation changes how food is traded around the world, we need to strengthen our laws to meet the changing landscape.

Australia imports food for a variety of reasons. In 2015-16, we imported $16 billion worth of food. In the same period, Australia exported $40 billion worth of food. Some food is imported into Australia as ingredients to be used in manufacturing of food, some of which is consumed in Australia and some is exported, contributing to our prosperity. For both our economic prosperity through exports, and for the safety of Australians, ensuring all food brought into Australia is safe is a must.

The hepatitis A outbreak in 2015 linked to imported frozen berries highlighted the limitations in our imported food safety management system in identifying and responding to new food safety risks and ensuring importers are accountable for importing safe food across their supply chain. This bill will address these limitations to modernise the system ensuring we continue to have a robust world-class food safety management system.

Food safety management systems are based on science. Some food risks you cannot see. We know for some food, such as raw milk cheese, scientific testing alone of the final product does not guarantee the food is safe to eat. As our farmers know, ensuring every step of the production process, from the grass the cow eats, to the water the cow drinks, to the cleanliness of the dairy, the conditions the cheese is made in, to finally the way the cheese is packaged and transported are all critical. To address these concerns for food where at-border testing alone is insufficient to assure safety, this bill will introduce a requirement that for certain ready to eat or minimally processed foods, importers will need an internationally recognised food safety management certificate that assures the food's production has been managed safely.

One or two times a year there are circumstances where we strongly suspect a problem with an imported food but the scientists are still working out what tests will best show if the problem exists in that particular batch. This was the case with the frozen berries, and we were able to work with the importer to voluntarily hold the food. However, this is reliant on the importer being cooperative. This bill addresses that weakness by introducing new capacity to hold food at the border until the scientific testing approach is being finalised or the extent of the problem is understood. This capacity will only be utilised for a short period until the scientific testing approach is finalised, then we will use the existing provisions.

Under the current system, if we have some information about an emerging risk but the scientific evidence is incomplete, the system is unable to increase the surveillance of that food. This bill introduces the ability to increase the level of surveillance to monitor the risk for a limited period and gather scientific evidence to conduct a reassessment of that food. This will enable us to better respond to emerging risks proactively before a food safety incident occurs.

Australia is a big exporter of food. Our agricultural exports contributed $38.3 billion to the Australian economy in 2015-16. This government has worked tirelessly to develop new markets for our exports. As part of this work we have identified foreign countries who have food safety management systems that are equivalent to our own. Where there are equivalent food safety management systems between Australia and another country, this bill introduces the capacity to recognise the systems and to reduce intervention at the border. This will benefit both countries, enabling the easier flow of trade between Australia and that country.

We are serious about ensuring Australia continues to have a world-class food safety management system. Part of ensuring this is having the necessary tools in place for when somebody tries to break the rules. This bill brings the enforcement tools available to the department up to modern standards and introduces new penalties to make sure when somebody breaks the law they are dealt with appropriately. That's why we are introducing a full range of penalties, ranging from strict liability offences to up to 10 years in gaol and fines greater than $100,000.

The Australian government only has regulatory responsibility for food as it comes over our border. We need to make sure the expectation we have on Australian businesses is the same as expectations on importers. Australian food businesses have excellent systems in place to be able to trace food, which is essential if a recall is required. To make sure importers are able to do the same, this bill introduces requirements for importers to be able to quickly identify who they bought food from and who they sold it to in Australia. This will strengthen our ability to respond to a food incident.

The food safety management system in Australia is a cooperative system where the states, territories, local governments and Australian government have shared responsibilities. To enable information to be used easily within Australia for food regulation, we have improved our information-sharing abilities with the states and territories. The states, territories and local governments play an essential part in Australia's domestic food safety management system, and the Australian government will be able to share information to support jurisdictions to effectively perform their role in food safety management.

Another limitation with current imported food safety management practices is how foods can be specified. Despite the knowledge in 2015 that only berries from a specific location were of concern in relation to that incident, all frozen berries were required to be tested under current legislation. This bill introduces the flexibility to specify food in a detailed way. For example, we will be able to narrow holding orders to specific foods from specific locations or even specific factories. This will reduce the burden on importers at the border as we will be able to target the specific food causing concern, and not all food of that type.

The changing global marketplace of food supply presents new challenges for managing the risks associated with imported food. As the world's population grows, ensuring a safe food supply is critical. This bill introduces the ability of Australia to share information with our international trading partners about any food safety issues identified in food arriving at Australia's border. This will enable a safer food supply chain worldwide.

Australia enjoys a world-class food safety management system. Through these changes we will strengthen our system, enabling Australians to continue to enjoy a wide range of food from around the world. Our food manufacturers will be able to continue to produce high-quality and safe food, which is highly sought after internationally. This benefits our farmers, our economy, and our nation as a leading exporter of high-quality safe food.

A strong food safety management system at the border is essential for our nation.

Debate adjourned.