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| Impact of new laws
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Overview
Amendments to the Food Act 2003 (NSW) and Food Regulation 2004 enabled the new Food Regulation Partnership from 1 January 2008.
The amendments include:
- enforcement agencies will be required from 1 July 2008 to carry out routine inspections of retail food businesses, and
- fees & charges for food safety activities can be charged under the Food Act 2003 (NSW)
The impact of the changes on retail food businesses will vary between councils depending on their individual food regulation program.
A process of appointing local councils to clearly defined food inspection roles will occur between March - June 2008.
Retail businesses affected
Businesses affected include those which:
- sell or serve food directly to consumers
- produce food for direct sale to consumers as their main food-related activity.
Manufacturing, wholesaling & food transport is not included in the changes.
Impact
The changes will:
- better protect business reputations as suppliers of quality safe food
- consumers will have more confidence in the NSW retail food supply under the more effective food regulatory system
- potential food poisoning outbreaks which could easily erode the NSW industry's excellent reputation and damage sales will be reduced
- create a level playing field for retail food businesses
- retail food inspections will occur in all council areas
- inspectors across NSW will interpret & apply food regulations more consistently
- food businesses that don't comply with regulations will face more consistent action to rectify issues
- improve food industry performance
- all retail businesses will be inspected and required to comply with regulations by maintaining premises and equipment, cleaning practices, ensuring correct food storage and training of staff
- councils will take immediate action to address non-compliance
- introduce some fees and charges
- each council is responsible for setting their fees and charges to reflect the needs of their community
- the NSW Food Authority sets recommended maximum inspection and administration fees and charges based on cost recovery
The fees and charges include:
- a fixed fee for issuing an improvement notice (including one reinspection) - $330
- a recommended maximum fee for inspection of a non-licensed food business - $143.08 per hour plus $35.77 for travelling expenses (local councils can already charge a fee under s608 Local Government Act 1993 (NSW), for inspecting the premises of a food business)
- a maximum annual administration charge on non-licensed food businesses that are subject to inspection once every twelve months
Councils can waive or reduce inspection fees, the annual administration charge & improvement notice fees. It is an offence to not pay the improvement notice fee.
Changes
Changes include:
- Councils’ responsibilities
- to be appointed as 'enforcement agencies' councils are required to carry out regular inspections and enforcement for the retail & food service sectors within their area
- food complaint investigations
- urgent food safety responses including urgent food recalls
- reports on key food regulation activities to the NSW Food Authority every six months
- regular inspections
- retail food businesses will be inspected regularly except for those deemed low risk such as newsagencies selling packaged confectionery
- NSW Food Authority
- the Authority will publish summary reports on its website. Reports will be based on the combined data of food regulation activities of councils. Individual businesses will not be named in these reports. The aim is to:
- reduce foodborne illness by controlling the most important food handling practices
- improve consistency among councils
- demonstrate council’s food regulation activities
- increase public awareness about food regulation
The new system is the result of a consultative three-year intensive development process with local government and other key stakeholders.
It is a collaborative initiative between the State and local governments of NSW.
Reason for change
The old system lacked a robust framework for the coordination of food regulation activities across NSW.
While food safety inspections of the retail sector traditionally fell under the local council domain, they were not mandatory. Some local councils inspected food premises and some didn’t.
Councils appointed as enforcement agencies will be required to regularly inspect retail food premises and report to the NSW Food Authority on their activities.
Benefits
Approximately one third of foodborne illness in NSW is attributed to the retail food sector. The economic impact of foodborne illness attributed to the sector is estimated at $760 million per year.
The new system:
- provides for safer food for the consumers of NSW by reducing the impact of foodborne illness caused by the retail food sector
- is a NSW-wide program which means consistency across all local government areas in the State
- avoids duplication by clarifying the roles and responsibilities between councils and the NSW Food Authority
- strengthens whole-of-government response to food safety emergencies such as potential foodborne illness outbreaks, food recalls, extortion and bioterrorism
- reduces the costs to retail food businesses of food poisoning outbreak such as from lost trade and goodwill
- gives councils the flexibility to recover the costs of food regulation enforcement, should they exercise it
Enquiries
Retail businesses are encouraged to contact their local council for further information on the changes.
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