Kaye Nikki: Food Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeKaye Nikki: Food Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 13 May 2014. Volume:698;Page:17749. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon NIKKI KAYE (Minister for Food Safety): I moveThat the Food Bill be now read a second time. Food safety laws play a very important role in New Zealand. This Food Bill has been under development for over 10 years and it will be a very important milestone for our Parliament to pass this bill. I want to acknowledge Shane Ardern chair of the Primary Production Committee for his important work on this bill and all other committee members.As consumers our food safety regime enables us to buy food with confidence and to do so safely through shops cafes and restaurants around New Zealand. As a nation that relies heavily on food exports the credibility of our food safety system is hugely important because it helps our exporters have access to overseas markets and sell our products at the premium end of the market. Events within the last year have served to underline the importance of our food safety system and legislation such as the Food Bill underpins this system.As other countries like China work to lift their food safety laws so must we. The whey protein concentrate incident disrupted exports to several markets and raised questions about our food safety system both domestically and internationally. In response the Government moved to restore confidence and initiated an inquiry to provide an independent assessment of our system. The first part of the inquiry was asked to consider the regulatory arrangements that govern various aspects of the dairy industry. The inquiry reported in December last year. It found that the regulatory framework for dairy food safety in New Zealand is fundamentally sound consistent with internationally recognised principles and is considered among the best food safety systems in the world.The focus of the inquiry was on the Animal Products Act which covers most dairy products for export. The inquiry outlined the key features of the Animal Products Act regime which are making food businesses responsible for having systems in place to manage food safety risks using accredited verifiers to audit the operations of food businesses and the use by the regulator of the balance between prescriptive and outcome-based standards.The Government announced a package of support to strengthen our systems. This included a food safety science research centre a traceability working group and very importantly it included the reform of recall provisions in New Zealand. The inquiry recommended that further work on the Food Bill be considered promptly and that the enactment of the bill not be delayed. The history of the Food Bill can be traced back to a review of New Zealand’s food safety legislation which started in 2003. The current regulatory regime is based on a one-size-fits-all approach. It applies a very rigid set of rules which focus on the premises of food not the risk of food. This is out of step with other jurisdictions and given that 50 percent of our exports are food it is very important that we pass this bill.I want to remind members of this House of some of the key reasons for this legislation. As I have said the bill is currently based on the premises not the risk of food. Secondly the current Act places an estimated $40 million of unnecessary compliance costs each year on new businesses and those wanting to expand. This stifles start-ups growth and innovation in our food sector. Thirdly over time the current Act will make it increasingly difficult if it stays in place to secure recognition with systems including overseas markets. This will make it less advantageous for us to get access to these markets.The Food Bill puts in place a risk-based approach where regulatory requirements are based on the extent and nature of the food safety risks associated with particular kinds of businesses. A number of different kinds of businesses will have more flexibility and lower compliance costs than they currently face under the current regime.When I became Minister for Food Safety I ensured that this bill was considered by the Primary Production Committee and passed with various amendments. The bill had been the subject of some serious criticism. Some of it was based on misunderstanding and some of it was based on real issues that needed closer consideration. I decided the best way forward was to prepare a Supplementary Order Paper with proposed changes to the bill which have now been considered by the select committee.The bill was referred back to the Primary Production Committee in July of last year and I provided the select committee with Supplementary Order Paper 278. Supplementary Order Paper 278 addressed the issues with the bill and added greater clarity in a number of areas. For example the Supplementary Order Paper recommended that low risk and community-related food activities such as sausage sizzles are able to continue under the bill provided that the food meets the general requirement that it is safe to eat. This is an important example of the balance shown in the bill between the risks of food versus not introducing unnecessary compliance costs. The Supplementary Order Paper also added a very new and important clause to provide a clear immunity from liability for people who donate food in good faith for a charitable benevolent or philanthropic purpose. This will help food banks around New Zealand help more disadvantaged New Zealanders who need access to food.Once the Government announced the whey-protein concentrate inquiry I asked that the select committee pause its consideration of this bill. This was about recognising that the inquiry’s report could have implications for the bill. I am very grateful to the select committee for its understanding of the need for this delay. Once the inquiry had reported on and endorsed the Food Bill the select committee process was resumed. At this time I also asked the select committee to consider some further amendments to this bill such as the recall provisions that had emerged from the whey-protein concentrate incident.The Primary Production Committee received several hundred submissions and I want to thank the committee and its able chair for its consideration of the issues raised. I also want to thank the many organisations and New Zealanders that submitted to thisselect committee process. I am pleased to see that many of the proposed changes in Supplementary Order Paper 278 were well supported. I also welcome the work that the committee did to achieve a report that is supported by all members of the committee. I note that the committee has recommended some further changes to the purpose statement in clause 4 and the key principles to guide regulators in clause 14. I am supportive of the signals that these changes will give to those who are responsible for administering the new legislation.The enactment of the Food Bill will not be the end of the law reform process. After enactment there will be a period during which a package of regulations and other instruments will be developed and consulted on.It has been a very long journey to get the Food Bill to where it now stands. Several Ministers for Food Safety including the Hon Kate Wilkinson whom I want to acknowledge have worked on this bill. I am very confident that the select committee process has tested the bill well and has provided a good foundation for progressing this important legislation. I want to acknowledge the strong cross-party support for this bill. I thank again all of those who have worked on this bill over the years and I particularly want to thank the Primary Production Committee for its thorough work on the bill. I commend this bill to the House.