Perin Davey (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is also to the Minister for Agriculture whom I note doesn't need a representative in this chamber because she sits right in front of me. Would the minister kindly inform the Senate how the government is demonstrating that it is on the side of our hardworking farmers and all Australians who want safe food imports.

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you for your question. If you import food, you're legally responsible to import food that's safe to eat. The Imported Food Control Act, together with state and territory legislation, is the government framework that provides assurance to Australians that food sold here is safe, suitable for consumption and compliant with Australian food standards.

Among its many important responsibilities, FSANZ provides the agreed advice on the levels of human health and safety risks posed by some foods. Medium- to high-risk foods are those that may contain harmful natural toxins or pathogenic microorganisms that could lead to food poisoning, if not handled or cooked properly before consumption—for example, your steak tartare, your fresh oysters, your uncooked sprouts or your soft cheeses.

FSANZ provides the important food safety standards that states and territories use to regulate the domestic sale and service of food in Australia. However, it is the Department of Agriculture that's responsible for regulating food imports. All imported foods must firstly comply with Australia's biosecurity imports conditions. For example, we do not accept meat products from countries that we know have African swine fever. While not a food safety concern to humans, an outbreak of ASF would devastate our pork industry. Once my department is assured that biosecurity risks are managed, it uses the FSANZ standards and advice to classify foods for particular inspection regimes under the Imported Foods Inspection Scheme. Recent legislative changes are improving the operation of the scheme, and these include increasing importers' accountability for food safety, improving monitoring and management of new and emerging food safety risks and improving incident responses. The changes help ensure that the scheme can respond to potential risks associated with the growing complexity of globalised food supply chains and increasing consumer demand for imported food.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Davey, a supplementary question.

Perin Davey (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister inform the Senate if there is any truth to the rumours that Australia is going to ban Roquefort cheese?

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Mr President. But I really should be saying thank you to Mr Will Studd, the 'big cheese', for drumming up excitement on 12 July with a tweet: 'Roquefort to be banned in Australia'. Au contraire. It is my pleasure to advise that the rumour is not true. My department is not looking to ban imports of Roquefort, the French king of blue vein cheese. The department is merely carrying out a routine review of the certification arrangements between the Australian and French authorities that allow the import of the raw sheep milk cheese. This is the second review undertaken since 2008, when we began to import the cheese. It is the same review process for all foreign government certification agreements and is consistent with Codex guidelines and processes undertaken by other countries. We imported—and I found this unbelievable—30 tonnes of Roquefort in 2018. I'm very confident the trade will continue.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Davey, a final supplementary question.

Perin Davey (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister, finally, outline any risks associated with our food safety?

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Roquefort, as outlined in an opinion piece in the Adelaide Advertiser by former member, Christopher Pyne, Roquefort is the royalty of cheese in the world made from raw unpasteurised sheep milk—milk of the special Lacaune sheep breed, native to the south of France, and matured in caves, no less. My former colleague and self-confessed cheese elitist, Mr Christopher Pyne, has increased the profile of this non-issue in his Advertiser article. He raises his concerns about people consuming the mould that creates the stinking blue-green streaks in Roquefort. I note the mould in question is actually a penicillin—a widespread fungus that's used in most of our blue cheese. It is not the mould that is the food safety risk of Roquefort cheese; as mentioned earlier, it's the raw milk that Rockford is made from. Untreated raw milk can grow listeria. It's managed the risk, so 'the fixer' can stand down.