. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/NZL/396 
30 April 2008  
 (08-2091) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  NEW ZEALAND
  
If applicable, name of local government involved:     
2. Agency responsible:  Food Standards Australia New Zealand 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item numb er(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Foods in general 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable :  All 
countries.  Imported (a s well as domestically produced) foods sold in Australia 
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  Assessment Report for 
Application A552 – Cadmium in peanuts (available in English, 91 pages) 
6. Description of content:  This Application seeks to amend the Australia New Zealand Food 
Standards Code (the Code) to increase the current maximum level (ML) of 0.1 mg/kg in 
peanuts to 0.5 mg/kg.  Adoption of this opti on will enable the shortfall between domestic 
peanut production and industry demand to be  met by imports, while promoting good 
agriculture practice, the protection of public health and safety and to facilitate trade in peanuts 
by enabling peanut importers to source peanuts from a wider number of countries.  
All applications to change the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code , must be 
assessed in the context of the following objectiv es:  (a) the protection of public health and 
safety;  (b) the provision of adequate informa tion relating to food to enable consumers to 
make informed choices;  an d (c) the prevention of misl eading or deceptive conduct. 
7. Objective and rationale:  [ X ] food safety, [   ] animal health,  [   ] plant protection, [  
 ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease,  [   ] protect territory from other damage from pests    
8. International standard, guideline or recommendation:  
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention, [ X ] None  
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:    
9. Relevant documents and langu age(s) in which these are available:   Australia New 
Zealand Food Standards Code  (available in English) G/SPS/N/NZL/396 
Page 2  
 
  10. Proposed date of adoption:  Notification to Government an ticipated mid-2008 with adoption 
(Gazettal) to follow, pendin g Government consideration. 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  Date of Gazettal pending Government consideration 
(see 10. above) 
12. Final date for comments:  20 June 2008 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [ X ] National notification 
authority, [   ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: 
Food Standards Aust ralia New Zealand 
PO Box 10559 Wellington 6036 New Zealand Fax:  +(64 4) 473 9855 
E-mail:  standards. management@foodstandards.govt.nz  
13. Texts available from:  [ X ] National notificati on authority, [   ] Na tional enquiry point, 
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: 
Documents are availa ble from the Food Standards Aust ralia New Zealand website:  
www.foodstandards.govt.nz/ standardsdevelopment  
 Copies are also available from:  
The NZ SPS Notification Point 
PO Box 2526 Wellington New Zealand Fax:  +(64 4) 474 4219 
Email:  sps@maf.govt.nz