Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Bernardi for his question. The government does take its role in this area of food certification very seriously. With regard to some of the issues that Senator Bernardi has raised, the federal government has responsibility for the export of products that contain a halal certification. I add that many of the recommendations in the Senate inquiry on the issue of third-party certification went to issues that relate to state and territory governments.

I reject the assertion from Senator Bernardi that the government are not taking action or doing anything to respond to the Senate inquiry or the issues that were raised therein. We have asked the legislative and governance committee for states and territories to look at this matter and the monitoring and enforcement of third-party certification. We've also asked the Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation to look at their role in potentially responding to the Senate inquiry. We are working with industry to look at any amendments that may be needed to the export controls which we are responsible for at the federal government level.