. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/N/NZL/144
25 July 2001
(01-3691)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  English
NOTIFICATION
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  NEW ZEALAND
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.  New Zealand 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 Ne w Zealand Food Standards Council (ANZFSC)
discussed the management of public health risks associated with the consumption ofunpasteurised 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 juices (fruit and vegetable)
have the potential to be contaminated with microbiological hazards and that juice that has
not undergone any form of treatment is more likely to be contaminated with pathogens thantreated 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 inaccordance 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/NZL/144
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 C ode is available on the internet at the ANZFA
website: www.anzfa.gov.au/foodstandards/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:  Mr. Keawe
Woodmore, Coordinator, New Zealand SPS Notification Authority, PO Box 2526, 101-103The Terrace, Wellington, New Zealand.  Tel:  +64 4 474 4226;  Fax:  +64 4 470 2730.
E-mail:  sps@maf.govt.nz
Website: http://www.maf.govt.nz/biosecurity/sps/transparency/notifications/index.htm
This document has also been notified by Australia.