./.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/N/AUS/132
7 August 2001
(01-3919)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  English
NOTIFICATION
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  AUSTRALIA
If applicable, name of local government involved:           
2. Agency responsible:  Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA)
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where
applicable).  Orange juice and unpasteurised juice.  Regions or countries likely to be
affected, to the extent relevant or practicable:  All countries
4. Title and number of pages of the notified document:  Full Assessment Report and
Regulation Impact Assessment:  Application A411 – Pasteurisation of Orange Juice &
Labelling of Unpasteurised Juice (51 pages, available in English)
5. Description of content: There are currently no requirements in Australia, New Zealand or
Codex to pasteurise or otherwise process juices to reduce pathogens that may be present in
the juice to safe levels.  Australia and Codex generally require juice to be manufactured in
accordance with good hygienic practice. There are also currently no requirements inAustralia, New Zealand or Codex for juice that has not been pasteurised or otherwise
treated, to be labelled as such.
The proposed measures were prompted by a food poisoning outbreak in early 1999
from contaminated unpasteurised orange juice.   The orange juice was contaminated with
Salmonella typhimurium  phage type 135a and affected over 500 people.  Following this
outbreak, in August 1999, the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Council (ANZFSC)
discussed the management of public health risks associated with the consumption of
unpasteurised orange juice.  ANZFSC supported a proposal to make an application to
ANZFA to amend Standard O7 of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.
The risk assessment conducted by ANZFA, concluded that all juice (fruit and
vegetable) have the potential to be contaminated with microbiological hazards and that
juice that have not undergone any form of treatment is more likely to be contaminated with
pathogens than treated juice.  It also concluded that while there is a low probability of
untreated juice being contaminated with dangerous pathogens, if it is, the consequences
can be severe for at risk groups and in extreme cases death could occur.
Five options were considered for managing the risks associated with untreated
juices, ranging from having no management strategy to requiring all juice to be processed
in accordance with a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) system that
includes a 5-log reduction process for the destruction of pathogens that may be present in
the juice.  The preferred option requires the following:G/SPS/N/AUS/132
Page 2
• labelling of packaged juices as ‘unpasteurised’ if they have not undergone a
process capable of achieving at least a 5-log reduction in the most resistant
pathogen of public health significance likely to occur in the juice;  and
• mandatory microbiological criteria for untreated juice requiring not
detectable levels of Escherichia coli  and Salmonella spp.
6. 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           
7. An international standard, guideline or recommendation does not exist [  X ].
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate
reference and briefly identify deviations:           
8. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  Australia New
Zealand Food Standards Code (English).  The Code is available on the internet at the ANZAwebsite:  www.anzfa.gov.au/foodstanda rds/foodstandardscodecontents/index.cfm
9. Proposed date of adoption:  Recommendation to government anticipated to be made late
2001.
10. Proposed date of entry into force:  Entry into force will occur after government approval
in late 2001.
11. Final date for comments:  15 September 2001
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [     ] National notification
authority, [     ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if
available) of other body:  Australia New Zealand Food Authority, PO Box 7186, Canberra
Mail Centre ACT 2610, Australia;  Fax:  +61 2 6271 2278;  E-mail:  info@anzfa.gov.au
12. Texts available from: [  X ] National notification authority, [     ] National enquiry point
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: