Strange JamieJAMIE STRANGE (Labour): So as we know the purpose of this bill amends the three main food safety Acts the Food Act Animal Products Act and Wine Act to address gaps identified by the whey protein concentrate (WPC) inquiry and make other improvements to the food safety regulatory system. It obviously arose out of the Fonterra botulism and we know the three purposes: protecting human health maintaining New Zealand's reputation and ensuring steps have been taken to address the recommendations of the WPC inquiry. I'd particularly like to ask the Minister in the chair Damien O'Connor if he could please elaborate on the aspect around the low-THC hemp seeds in food products. This is an area I'm particularly interested in. I think that whenever—Hon Member: Yeah right!Hon David Bennett: Ha ha!JAMIE STRANGE: Not as interested as some members but whenever the word hemp" or "marijuana" is mentioned some people in society tend to freak out. I mean we've just had a bill come through from Chlöe Swarbrick. Myself I'd probably lean towards a more socio-conservative model but when it comes to marijuana and hemp I think there are aspects of this plant that we shouldn't be scared of. So I'm really encouraged to see this in the bill.So Minister if I could just share some of my thoughts around this and then maybe you might want to elaborate and add a few aspects around this and why the change is needed around the low-THC hempseeds in food products. My understanding is the definition in the Food Act 2014 does not allow substances regulated under health legislation to be in food even if the level of substance is safe to consume. Food products are continually evolving and New Zealand's regulatory system must be able to adapt to new business opportunities consumer preferences and technological developments hence the reason why this aspect is included in this bill.The reason it's needed now is that in April 2017 the Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation approved a standard for low-THC hemp to be in food. Under the food treaty with Australia New Zealand is required to adopt this standard without undue delay which is what we are doing. The proposed change around this is the amendment to section 9 which was just alluded to before of the Food Act to allow regulations to permit the low-THC hempseed to be in food products.I know that there were a few concerns raised in the ministerial forum. They originally had concerns about potential impacts on roadside drug-testing and whether marketing low-THC hemp would confuse the public about the acceptability and safety of cannabis—so in a sense blur the lines. But the Minister might want to talk about that. My understanding is these issues have been addressed but the Minister might want to elaborate on that aspect of it there.The benefits that I understand around having low-THC hemp is that this amendment will also help futureproof the Food Act because similar interface issues are likely to arise in the future. Food science and technology and the development of foods for health are growing rapidly. For example a 2015 report by KPMG stated that the annual global nutraceutical market which the hemp is involved in is primed for rapid growth and was expected to be worth a lot of money by 2018.So I guess just coming back to my original point there around this aspect of the bill it does seem to be an aspect of society where we have become a little bit nervous when there is mention of the word "hemp" and mention of the word "marijuana" but I do think it's important to take an objective look at this plant and have a look at the aspects of this plant that can be used for good purposes. I think this bill has done that which I appreciate. In closing—so just coming back to the key objectives of this bill around one I didn't mention which is harmonising the implementation of the WPC inquiry recommendations across the three food safety Acts. So it's about bringing them together which is in essence about simplicity which is certainly something that makes sense for Governments to do. So I certainly commend this bill to the committee and I look forward to the Minister's response around this particular aspect of the bill. Thank you Mr Chair."