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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 2 Hansard (11 March) . . Page.. 550 ..

MR SMYTH

In response to these international concerns about the containment of mad cow disease, the Agriculture and Resource Management Council of Australia and New Zealand, ARMCANZ, passed a resolution agreeing to enact regulations banning the feeding of ruminant material to ruminants as a matter of urgency. With the passage of this legislation, all States and Territories will have enacted such a ban.

But, Mr Speaker, the matter does not end there. The USA, Canada and the European Union have all introduced legislation that bans the feeding of mammalian materials to ruminants. The new US rules are likely to become the de facto world standard and could have significant trade implications for Australia if not followed in Australian practice. Mr Speaker, failure to have this ban in place has the potential to undermine Australia's beef trade with the world, and especially with the European Union. With that in mind, a number of Australian jurisdictions, and now the ACT, are enacting legislation to ensure that this broader ban on the feeding of mammalian material to ruminants is in place.

Delegates from the European Union are expected in Canberra on 15 April 1999, and Commonwealth authorities are expecting to inform them that all States and Territories have legislation in place to at least ban the feeding of ruminant materials to ruminants. It is important that we in the ACT make our contribution in this regard. I should add that enacting this legislation will have no actual impact on producers in the ACT because such feed additives are not currently used here. Nevertheless, it is important that the ACT not be seen as the weak link in the chain of Australia's beef trade. Mr Speaker, I commend the Bill to the house.

Debate (on motion by Mr Corbell ) adjourned.

MS CARNELL (Chief Minister and Treasurer and Acting Minister for Health and Community Care) (10.36): Mr Speaker, I present the Public Health (Consequential Amendments) Bill 1999, together with its explanatory memorandum.

Title read by Clerk.

MS CARNELL: I move:

That this Bill be agreed to in principle.

Mr Speaker, the details of this Bill are self-explanatory and are only minor and technical amendments, which I do not propose to go through in detail. The purpose of the amendments contained in the Bill is to eliminate unforeseen potential discrimination that may have arisen as a result of the passage of the Public Health Act 1997 - the Act - and the Public Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1997. This potential discrimination has arisen due to the replacement of the term "infectious disease" with the more general term "transmissible notifiable condition". However, the sections of the Public Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1997 relating to transmissible notifiable conditions are yet to be commenced because work is being undertaken on a national list of notifiable diseases.

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