Food Standards Australia New Zealand
Corporate Plan 2015–2016
Food Standards Australia New Zealand’s Purpose
Our purpose is to support the bi-national food regulatory system to achieve:
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a high degree of consumer confidence in the quality and safety of food produced,
processed, sold or exported from Australia and New Zealand
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an effective, transparent and accountable regulatory framework within which the
food industry can work efficiently
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adequate information relating to food to enable consumers to make informed
choices, and
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common rules for Australia and New Zealand and the promotion of consistency
between domestic and international standards.
This is the 2015−16 Corporate Plan prepared, for subsection 35(1)(b) of the Public
Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (the PGPA Act). The plan covers
four years commencing on 1 July 2015 and ending on 30 June 2019.
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR
The central role of food in people’s lives provides the context for food regulation and
standards.
Food is important for nutrition; it is a dimension of our culture and contributes to the
reputation of Australia and New Zealand as producers and exporters of safe, high quality
food items. In this sense, food is a critically important, and growing, contributor to our
respective national economies.
The community demands that food will be safe. Food standards seek to underpin
confidence in our food supply by helping industry and regulators mitigate food-related
risk while, at the same time, allowing innovation, competiveness and trade at an industry
level. Most importantly, food standards protect the immediate health and safety of
consumers. They can also contribute to longer term public policy objectives especially
when part of a coordinated set of strategies aimed at improving diet-related contributions
to public health.
FSANZ performs a critical role in a complex bi-national food regulatory system. We have
a shared responsibility with national, state and territory governments to ensure a safe
food supply. Governments set the policy framework and, through their food laws, enforce
food regulations. FSANZ’s central role is providing an expert, science-based source of
advice on a broad range of food-related issues as well as a focal point for a coordinated,
cross-border approach to food surveillance and monitoring, food recalls and responses
to food incidents.
Being evidence-based is central to our work. This plan (and our associated business
plans) outlines how we will reinforce and build on our core strength of scientific risk
analysis; build stronger links with local and counterpart food regulatory agencies;
develop constructive working relationships with the primary production and processed
food sectors and strengthen our connections with consumers and public health agencies.
Some of the strategic imperatives and the changing environment in the food regulatory
system and globalised markets, and the strategic themes that the Board has identified to
address them, are set out in the plan. In repositioning itself to respond to the challenges
of its complex and dynamic operating environment, FSANZ will build on what I see as its
core strengths––being evidence based, professional and working collaboratively with all
of its stakeholders––to provide confidence in food produced in, or sold in, Australia and
New Zealand. To this end, we are a trusted interpreter and source of advice and
information on food.
PHILIPPA SMITH AM
Chair
ENVIRONMENT
The Operating Context
Responsibility for the safety of food is a shared responsibility of the national governments
(Australia and New Zealand) and state and territory governments. FSANZ has a central
role as an expert, science-based, source of advice on a broad range of food-related
issues and assessment of food-related risks. FSANZ’s work underpins the work of the
food regulation system to achieve confidence in our food supply. We also help food
regulators and industry achieve consistent application of food laws to enhance the
confidence of consumers and industry, while the broader policy settings are set by
government.
FSANZ’s operating environment is complex and dynamic. This Corporate Plan has been
developed in the context of a number of emerging trends that have been identified by
FSANZ as strategic challenges for food regulation in the period covered by this
Corporate Plan and beyond:
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Increasing globalisation of the food supply chain and the consequential demand
for more sophisticated traceability mechanisms and supply chain intelligence.
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The growing pace of technological innovation which brings changes in food
production techniques and types of foods offered for sale.
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A desire for reduced regulation replaced by increased recognition of international
standards and industry codes of practice.
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The rapid proliferation of ‘real time’ information about food and the opportunities
and threats this poses for maintaining consumer confidence in the safety and
quality of food.
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Growing concern about the increased prevalence of lifestyle diseases, such as
obesity, and the role that food can play in addressing these challenges.
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The ongoing need for government agencies to focus on efficiencies and
effectiveness in a budget-constrained environment.
Who we are (our identity)
FSANZ is a Commonwealth corporate entity established under the Food Standards
Australia New Zealand Act 1991 (the FSANZ Act).
FSANZ is governed by a Board that is appointed by the Australian Government.
What we do (our role)
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Build and sustain food regulatory measures and practices to ensure a safe food
supply chain and support a dynamic and sustainable food manufacturing sector.
Collect and make available food-related data.
Maintain an evidence-based approach to risk analysis.
Coordinate national response, stakeholder engagement, and surveillance and
monitoring.
Provide scientific and technical advice and information about food to support the binational food regulatory system and decision-making on food matters.
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Support informed consumer decisions about food by collecting and providing
relevant information.
How we operate (our values)
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Striving for professionalism and excellence in whatever we do.
Collaborating effectively to achieve results.
Being inclusive in how we work.
Being transparent in our decision making and processes.
Being proactive and responsive in identifying and questioning issues raised.
Demonstrating innovation and creativity as well as consistency in the work we do.
Showing leadership of the highest standard.
STRATEGIC INTENT
To address the strategic challenges ahead for FSANZ, the Board intends to focus on the
following five themes:
i.
Reposition FSANZ in the contemporary food regulatory system as a trusted
source of advice on food, a leader in its areas of expertise; an active participant in
developing non-regulatory options to manage risks related to food; and a
contributor to the development of broader food policy by promoting the use of
scientific evidence in policy development.
ii.
Build on FSANZ’s core strengths of scientific/technical excellence and custodian
of food-related data and information to establish the agency as a trusted and
coherent interpreter of information related to food composition and safety.
iii.
Build on FSANZ’s established relationships with networks of trusted experts and
international counterparts to establish a better understanding of emerging risks
and practical risk mitigation options.
iv.
Deepen FSANZ’s engagement with stakeholders. FSANZ will review its
Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Strategy in the context of broader
work underway in the food regulatory system to strengthen the involvement of
stakeholders in the development of policy, standards and implementation. FSANZ
will also explore ways to engage with stakeholders that have traditionally been
difficult to reach.
v.
Continue to focus on efficiency and effectiveness.
ACHIEVING OUR PURPOSE
Develop food regulatory measures (standards) or contribute to other control
measures using the risk analysis process
We use risk analysis to develop food regulatory measure (standards or codes of
practice). We also apply risk analysis to other work, for example, when we respond to
requests for advice from other agencies in the food regulation system including the
assessment of risks for imported foods.
Risk analysis is an internationally recognised process used to assess risks to human
health from food-related hazards. It has three parts––risk management, risk assessment
and risk communication.
In recent years, FSANZ has taken action to ensure our risk management decisions
continue to be based on the best available evidence and are supported by a high level of
consultation and transparency. Our risk management decisions are based on an
awareness of contemporary public health issues, emerging technologies used in the
wider food industry and current and emerging community concerns.
We will reinforce and build on the work that has been done to strengthen our risk
analysis capacity and leverage this work through collaborative partnerships with
international counterparts.
FSANZ will also explore options available for playing a greater role in promoting the use
of scientific evidence and good practice in a deregulatory and globalised environment.
Surveillance and monitoring will be important elements of our approach to ensuring that
regulation is outcome-focussed. Enhanced traceability systems and the proactive
collection and analysis of market intelligence will increase our capacity to respond to new
or emerging risks. Keeping local data is also important in the making, application and
evaluation of internationally recognised standards.
Our activities and work plans are identified in our supporting business plans, the Science
Strategy and Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Strategy.
Co-ordinate national response, conduct surveillance and monitoring
FSANZ performs a critical coordination function in the system, bringing government
agencies, industry, consumer and public health representatives together when needed.
Post-market control measures, such as incident response, recalls, surveillance and
monitoring are important in minimising harmful effects and to maintain confidence in the
food supply. These activities help to ensure that regulatory and non-regulatory activities
are achieving their intended objectives.
Our work on risk management complements this important role. A focus for us in the
coming years is to be responsive to the developing need the community has of a better
understanding and confidence in sources of food. A major focus of our work with industry
and others will be developing stronger traceability systems so responses can be
immediate and targeted.
Collect and provide food related information and provide food related advice
Confidence in the food regulatory system depends on decision-making being based on
the best available evidence. Often chemical or biological evidence will be paramount.
Our work is frequently reviewed and commented on by peers from around Australia, New
Zealand and internationally. FSANZ is an active participant, and often a leader of,
domestic and international food-related policy development and the advancement of
food-related knowledge.
FSANZ will maintain its unique and high level capability to provide advice about food
composition and consumption. This information is fundamental in assuring the nutritional
safety of food and for ensuring that approvals for the addition of substances to food are
well within recognised safety limits.
Increasingly, FSANZ is being asked to provide advice based on consumer behavioural
science; the consumer’s preference for food options; and regulatory economics, which
requires the evaluation of costs and benefits of different regulatory options.
In recent years we have upgraded and expanded our web and communication tools.
FSANZ is a trusted source of data and information. Our intent is to review our information
architecture to consider options for expanding our role and creating an information hub
for industry, the scientific community and consumers.
Importantly, FSANZ’s work and expertise can also contribute to whole-of-government
strategies that seek to address longer term public health challenges such as obesity.
FSANZ regards it as important that this source of information and expertise is used
effectively.
Assessing our performance
Many quantitative measures are established in the FSANZ Act and are reported in the
annual report. Those measures include information about timeliness, requests for review
and numbers of Code variations published.
Other performance measures will be qualitative—for example, the response of food
regulators to the work done by FSANZ to develop food regulatory measures; the extent
of engagement in relevant domestic and international scientific and standards setting
bodies; and peer review or independent evaluation of risk analysis.
Feedback loops are important sources of information for FSANZ to ensure we monitor
our performance in quantitative and qualitative terms. FSANZ conducts surveys of the
food supply, often in cooperation with industry and regulators, to collect after-market
information that helps assess our performance as a developer of regulatory standards.
The primary performance measure for FSANZ relates to our most important function: the
development of food standards. We will measure the timeliness of our standards
development work against statutory benchmarks and the effectiveness of the work by
evaluating responses of agencies which implement standards.
The performance of our coordination work with the states and territories in relation to
food recalls, food incidents and surveillance and monitoring will be evaluated through
debriefs of each recall and incident and evaluation of the surveillance and monitoring
program. Evaluation will be conducted with the Implementation Subcommittee for Food
Regulation.
The performance of FSANZ as a contributor to the Government’s response to the
Labelling Logic report will be measured by reference to the timeliness of advice and
evaluation of the advice by the Ministerial Forum for Food Regulation.
Our stakeholder engagement will be assessed by evaluating the effectiveness of
consultation against measures of direct engagement, e.g. the number of submissions
received, the quality of those submissions, surveys of stakeholder satisfaction and the
engagement of stakeholders in our social media (e.g. Facebook and Twitter) and
information (e.g. NUTTAB and NPC products).
Our performance measures
Develop food regulatory measures (standards) or contribute to other control
measures using the risk analysis process
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Food regulation measures are considered in a timely manner.
Food standards are developed with regard to food regulation policy.
Co-ordinate national response, conduct surveillance and monitoring
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Manage the operation of the National Food Safety Network and coordinate major
food incidents under the National Food Incident Response Protocol.
Food recalls are effectively coordinated through information sharing and the use of
the Food Industry Recall Protocol and Government Food Recall Protocol.
Industry satisfaction with FSANZ’s recall coordination role.
Collect and provide food related information and provide food related advice
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Participate in the ongoing implementation of the whole-of-government response to
the Labelling Logic report.
Consumer and Public Health Dialogue meetings.
Stakeholder engagement, measured by the number of:
stakeholders receiving information via website publications and social media; and
unique visitors to the FSANZ website.
Risk oversight and management
The FSANZ Board is responsible for FSANZ’s operations under the Public Government
Performance and Accountability Act 2013, including for the use and management of
finances allocated to the agency. The Board is also the decision-maker on food
standards. These two functions rely on significantly different risk analysis models.
The FSANZ Risk Management Framework describes the approach to managing risk in
FSANZ. The Framework addresses both enterprise risk and food-related risks.
Enterprise risks
The Finance, Audit and Risk Management Committee has been established to advise
the Board on enterprise risks the organisation may face.
The Board’s appetite for enterprise risk is low although it will in some circumstances
accept a moderate level of risk if a rating of low risk can’t be achieved or specific
strategic objectives are agreed.
Food regulation risks
Food-related risks are managed through intergovernmental agreements. Under these
agreements, food regulators have ultimate responsibility for determining the appetite for
food-related risk. The Board establishes and applies its own appetite for food safety and
other food-related risks in a legislative system in which the final risk determination is
made by ministers (the Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food
Regulation).
Where a risk appetite has been established by the Forum, FSANZ will work within the
scope of guidelines ministers provide. Risk management strategies, such as standards
developed by FSANZ, will be commensurate with this pre-determined risk appetite.
If guidelines have not been issued, FSANZ will establish risk management strategies
(standards) that comply with the requirement that standards must be made with regard to
the objectives of protecting public health and safety, providing adequate information and
preventing misleading or deceptive conduct.
FSANZ’s approach to food-related risk is tempered by the existence of overarching
requirements in food laws that food that is sold must be safe. Accordingly, FSANZ will
rely on evidence of a hazard and is concerned to ensure, based on available evidence,
that any risk is acceptable.
Capability
FSANZ has identified five key enablers of our strategic imperatives that will ensure that it
makes an effective contribution to food regulation. These enablers are:
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Risk – an anticipative approach to emerging issues.
Science – robust evidence and sustained, high quality scientific capability.
People – dedicated people with a broad spread of specialist disciplines.
Communication – a broad communication capacity.
Governance and process – good governance and effective processes.
RISK — Our ability to look forward and respond quickly to emerging risk
In a world in which food risks can emerge quickly or advances in knowledge or
innovation can change our understanding of a hazard, FSANZ has to be able to respond
promptly and proportionately.
The FSANZ Risk Management Framework aims to ensure that FSANZ staff can
effectively identify, monitor and respond to food safety and food-related public health
issues in a transparent and coordinated manner that applies internationally recognised
risk analysis methodology.
FSANZ manages enterprise risks proactively through its FSANZ Risk Management
Framework.
SCIENCE — evidence and capability
FSANZ’s work is evidence-based. Each element of risk analysis demands an
understanding of the evidence and its scientific value.
It is essential that we continue to enhance our scientific capability, have ready access to
robust data and continue to be at the forefront of scientific work on all food-related
issues.
The Science Strategy 2015−19 is focussed on achieving this by increasing our scientific
capability, in physical, biological, economic and social sciences; enhancing the evidence
base; building our collaboration and international links with the science community;
enhancing our scientific communication and stakeholder engagement; enhancing our
capability to identify and respond to emerging issues; providing leadership in developing
regulatory science; and measuring our scientific performance.
PEOPLE — Quality and dedication
A well-qualified and experienced workforce is vital for FSANZ to complete its work. Our
People Strategy aims to ensure we have that workforce and the capacity to adapt to
meet our changing strategic objectives.
As an evidence-based organisation, FSANZ employs people with qualifications and
experience in a wide range of the traditional food-related scientific disciplines such as
chemistry, toxicology, microbiology, nutrition and food technology. People with analytical
skills in, for example, dietary modelling and epidemiology are also critical.
Skills in the economic and social sciences, communications and the law have become
increasingly important to support efficient and effective standards development. Risk
management requires strong policy development skills and risk managers will
understand the work of the food industry and government.
FSANZ accepts that it will not always be possible to have these skills in house.
Accordingly, an important part of FSANZ’s capability and capacity relies on access to
outside expertise through mechanisms such as the FSANZ Fellows Program and links to
academic, research and regulatory institutions within and outside Australia and New
Zealand.
Our communication capacity
The Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Strategy 2015−19 recognises that all
FSANZ staff have a role in communication and stakeholder engagement. The strategy is
aimed at managing the varying communication roles and the vast array of information
available in FSANZ.
The strategy identifies a growing reliance on social media to communicate efficiently with
a range of audiences and the importance of using media to enhance role clarity and
explain risk management decisions.
The strategy also strengthens our role as a respected hub for information on food safety
and nutrition.
Appropriateness and effectiveness of our governance
and processes
The Board and Executive use the FSANZ Corporate Governance Framework to achieve
good governance. The framework details the systems, policies and procedures that have
been agreed to in the agency to create effective processes. In addition:
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the Board oversees the management of the agency
senior management guides and monitors work
management and staff disclose all material matters in a timely and accurate
manner
policies are used to manage our relationships with stakeholders—including
employees, Parliament, industry, consumer and health groups and the public.
Effective process is critical to the way we go about our business and meet legislative
obligations. We will continue to look at ways to improve business efficiency and will
undertake a number of business process reviews in 2015−19. In particular, we will
examine the regulatory risk analysis process in order to ensure that the allocation of risk
analysis resources is proportionate to risk.
FSANZ STRATEGIC MAP