Scott Lynda: Animal Products (Dairy Products and Other Matters) Bill — In Committee 
Scott Lynda: Animal Products (Dairy Products and Other Matters) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:624;Page:19141] 
Dr LYNDA SCOTT (National—Kaikoura) 
: 
 I am pleased to debate Part 2 “Amendments to Animal Products (Ancillary and Transitional Provisions) Act 1999”. In the debate on Part 1 I was talking about how well our dairy products are liked overseas and I shall tell members a little anecdote of a friend whose son took back overseas with him 32 bars of New Zealand chocolate. Do members know how much that would have weighed? They would have been very heavy but he managed to stay within the weight allowances for travel. I am sure that he will use those bars of chocolate to sustain him through some of the cold dark winters in the Northern Hemisphere. 
Jill Pettis 
: Like Vogel’s bread. 
Dr LYNDA SCOTT 
: Like Vogel’s bread the chocolate is very well liked. 
This bill has had the support of the industry and the Primary Production Committee did receive advice from the New Zealand Food Safety Authority. It is that authority which I think was set up 3 years ago that is going through the legislation in New Zealand to look at any legislation that is to do with food safety. It will be conducting a domestic food review to establish a programme that does protect consumers. It will also look a minimising compliance costs and will ensure that New Zealand’s food industry is positioned for the growth we expect to see in the future. Of course we have seen enormous growth in the dairy industry with more and more people going into that area herds increasing in size and a lot of conversion of land to dairying. That is a real growth area for New Zealand. Ninety percent of our dairy products are exported. 
 It is no wonder that all parties support this bill. The select committee made only minor changes to it. I agree with the committee’s report where it states it wants to see compliance costs kept to a minimum. The cost recovery in transition was one point that was debated at the select committee. Select committee members wanted to ensure that the fees that were paid under the Animal Products Act could be transferred to the dairy regulations or that there should be a refund if people had to pay new fees. A National Government—soon to be—would be very keen to see compliance costs reduce and to avoid duplication of cost recovery. 
One of the things I have to ask about is the New Zealand Food Safety Authority. We have a Ministry of Health that has over 1000 people in it. The Ministry of Health has grown and grown; I think it employs about 1200 people. 
Dr Paul Hutchison 
: The Minister said it would go down. 
Dr LYNDA SCOTT 
: The Minister did say the number would go down by 25 percent but what happened was that it went up by 25 percent. So there was a bit of a problem there. While I totally agree that food safety is extremely important why did we need to have a separate authority? Why is the Ministry of Health not responsible for New Zealand’s food safety? It seems that the more the bureaucracy grows the less it does. However we now have a New Zealand Food Safety Authority and it gave advice on this bill and is conducting further domestic food reviews. 
We support Part 2.