In November 2019, the Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation (the Forum, now known as the Food Ministers' Meeting) endorsed an ambitious plan to reform the Food Regulation System (the System) to ensure it remains strong, robust and agile into the future.
The reform plan comprises a number of interconnected projects. A key component of the reform plan is a staged review of the Food Regulation Agreement (FRA), which provides a foundation for the System and outlines its overarching role, objectives and governance.
Stakeholder consultation was undertaken between 23 November 2020 and 22 January 2021 via the Australian Government Department of Health Consultation Hub. In this consultation, stakeholders were asked for their views on a set of proposed aspirations and high level actions for the System.
Submissions are being shared, where appropriate, amongst the Government organisations and consultants who are working on the related projects given the interconnected nature of the various projects under the broader reform plan.
The outcomes of this consultation are now being analysed and will feed into the second stage of the review of the FRA to clearly set out the objectives, scope and operating environment for the future of the System and provide strategic direction for other reform initiatives (including the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991 review).
Information from the submissions was presented in a report to the Food Ministers' Meeting on
14 May 2021 which was endorsed for publication. The report does not include information identifying individual businesses or organisations unless prior agreement of those businesses or organisations was received.
