Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) (

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: ''Te Mana Kounga Kai – Ahitereiria me Aotearoa''), formerly Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA), is the

statutory authority A statutory body or statutory authority is a body set up by law (statute) that is authorised to implement certain legislation on behalf of the relevant country or state, sometimes by being Primary and secondary legislation, empowered or deleg ...

in the Australian Government Health portfolio that is responsible for developing

food standards Standards of identity for food are mandatory requirements that are set by a governing body to determine what a food product must contain to be marketed under a certain name in allowable commerce. Mandatory standards, which differ from voluntary grad ...

for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Description

FSANZ develops the standards in consultation with experts, other government agencies and stakeholders; the standards are enforced by state and territory departments, agencies and local councils in Australia, the Ministry for Primary Industries in New Zealand, and the Australian

Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment The Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE) was an Australian Government department which operated from 1 February 2020 until 30 June 2022. It represented Australia's national interests in agriculture, water and th ...

for food imported into Australia. The recommendations made by the body are open and accountable, and based upon a rigorous scientific assessment of risk to public health and safety. All decisions made by FSANZ must be approved by the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council, which is composed of the Health Minister from each of the Australian states and territories, and the

Health Minister A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Count ...

from New Zealand, and other participating Ministers nominated by each jurisdiction. This may lead to political interference in the decision: for example the decision made over

hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants o ...

seed, when the Food Standards scientists recommended that hemp seed be allowed for sale, the ministers vetoed this because they did not want to appear soft on drugs. Publications from FSANZ include the '' Australian Total Diet Survey'' and '' Shoppers' Guide to Food Additives and labels''.

Nomenclature

This authority is sometimes cited variously as Australia and New Zealand Food Standards/Safety Authority (ANZFSA), possibly incorrect nomenclature arising due to confusion with the old

initialism An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

ANZFA, and with the

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

of the New Zealand authority,

New Zealand Food Safety __NOTOC__ New Zealand Food Safety (NZFS), or Haumaru Kai Aotearoa, is the New Zealand government body responsible for food safety, and is the controlling authority for imports and exports of food and food-related products. In April 2012 it was me ...

, which previously managed such questions in New Zealand.

Notes and references

External links

*
Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority
{{authority control Standards organisations in New Zealand Commonwealth Government agencies of Australia Scientific organisations based in Australia Medical and health organisations based in Australia Government agencies of New Zealand Standards organisations in Australia Food safety organizations Food safety in New Zealand Food safety in Australia Trans-Tasman organisations Regulation in Australia Regulation in New Zealand

Description

Nomenclature

See also

Notes and references

External links