Page 5904 - Week 14 - Thursday, 8 December 2011
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I present to the Assembly the Food (Amendment) Bill 2011.
ACT residents enjoy a vibrant and diverse food service industry serving a variety of different cuisines from around the world. An important part of this industry is food safety. The ACT community expect and deserve to know that the food they purchase is safe for consumption.
The ACT has almost 2,500 registered food businesses. The majority of these are operating in compliance with the provisions of the Food Act 2001 and the Australia New Zealand food standards code, ensuring that food provided for sale in the ACT is safe and does not introduce a public health risk. In recent times, there has been a higher incidence of non-compliance being detected by the Health Protection Service.
The food industry is a dynamic industry; there are new food business premises being registered by the Health Protection Service every year. There are new people entering the industry and some that are leaving. Being a dynamic industry with food businesses constantly entering and leaving the market, it is not surprising, therefore, that food safety knowledge gaps would creep into the system. Indeed, the higher incidence of non-compliance that has been seen over the past year by the Health Directorate can be attributed either to a disregard for the laws or a lack of knowledge on the part of registered proprietors and their staff on required food safety standards. I can inform the Assembly that a considerable degree of enforcement action has been taken and continues to be taken to address this concerning trend.
Today, the bill I am presenting has the overarching aim of improving food safety and regulatory transparency in the ACT. Members will be aware that earlier this year there was considerable media attention as a result of a freedom of information request made to the Health Directorate. Information was disclosed in response to that request but not the names and addresses of the premises that had improvement notices and prohibition orders served. The directorate was criticised on the grounds that other jurisdictions disclose this information.
I would like to point out that other jurisdictions disclose fines that are issued and paid by the alleged offenders. Improvement notices and prohibition orders are not in the nature of fines. They are administrative tools that allow the Health Protection Service to take action when an issue is detected. Some of the issues being addressed with improvement notices and prohibition orders include lack of hand washing facilities; foods being exposed to contamination and not kept at appropriate temperatures; unclean premises, fixtures and fittings; and inadequate pest control management. These are matters regarded as critical to the hygienic operation of a food business.
The media reports following this freedom of information request were followed by concerned emails and letters to my office, and rightly so. It was a demonstration of the ACT community’s interest in a safe food industry. The ACT community sent a clear message in response to these articles: they wanted more transparency around food safety regulatory action. The bill contains three amendments that are intended to do precisely that.
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