Consumer Right to Know (Food Information) Bill

Member's Bill

Explanatory note

General policy statement

The purpose of this bill is to ensure that consumers have access to the information necessary to enable them to make informed food-purchasing decisions, including that food labels are meaningful to consumers.

This purpose is recognised as a sound basis for food labelling by all the major national and international agencies whose work underpins the New Zealand labelling requirements: New Zealand Food Safety Authority, Food Standards Australia New Zealand, and the joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission.

Current food labelling provisions only partially meet consumers' needs for information in order to make informed choices. This bill, which is based on the concepts of 'consumers' right to know' and 'truth in labelling', will ensure better access for consumers to the necessary information.

This bill directs the Minister for Food Safety and the Minister for Consumer Affairs to ensure that food labelling provides the information New Zealander consumers need to make informed choices.

It also directs government agencies to make publicly available the information they have that will assist consumers to make informed choices.

The bill defines the right to know as everyone's fundamental and universal right to have unhindered access to information on food products prior to purchase.

Part 1

Preliminary Provisions

This part defines the purpose, the notions and principles, and the responsibilities related to the implementation of the provisions of the bill.

Part 2

GM food and feed

This Part addresses GM food and animal feed. Consumers increasingly want to know the methods by which their food is provided, in particular if these involve genetic modification. The provisions here will strengthen the existing provisions which relate to food containing GM DNA or protein, by including in the labelling requirements food that are produced by GM technology even if they no longer contain detectable GM DNA or protein, or have substantially altered characteristics.

The concept of labelling on the basis of method of production is well recognised within New Zealand and internationally through the provision of 'Organic' labels, where organic certification is based on the method of production rather than presence or absences of any material in the resulting food.

The bill also provides for the labelling of GM foods currently exempt from labelling. The current exemptions include flavours present in the food in a concentration of no more than 0.1 percent of the product; highly refined food where the effect of the refining process is to remove novel DNA and/or novel protein; and processing aids or food additives.

The bill lowers the threshold level above which adventitious contamination by GM material must be labelled, from 1percent to 0.5 percent for GM material that is permitted by Food Safety Australia New Zealand, and to zero for GM material not permitted by Food Safety Australia New Zealand.

The bill also provides for the labelling of GM animal feed, to assist animal producers to make informed choices and to assist traceability of GM material in the food chain. This will ensure continuity of information should the end use of a product, such as a grain, change.

Clause 7(2) provides for a framework of traceability to ensure the labelling accurately reflects the presence or absence of food or feed ingredients produced from GM technology. It provides for the tracing of all food and feed products and ingredients derived from GM placed on the market. This will facilitate quality control, verification of labelling claims, and also the possibility of withdrawing products should unforeseen adverse effects be found to occur. It allows for consumers and livestock producers to exercise their freedom of choice in an effective manner.

The bill provides for the transmission and retention of relevant information of GM food and feed products at all stages of marketing.

These requirements bring New Zealand law into harmonisation with proposed European regulations.

Part 3

Country of origin

This Part requires that the country of origin of certain foods to be clearly identified at the point of sale of the food.

Consumers should have the right to making purchasing decisions based on the country of origin of the food if they so wish. There are many reasons that consumers may wish to eat foods from certain countries including environmental sustainability, cultural practices, animal welfare, economic impacts, social impacts, and the desire to avoid particular chemical contaminants that might arise from some country's production processes or post-harvest treatments.

A lack of country of origin labelling can result in the consumer being misled into believing that common items such as meat, fruit, fish and vegetables are New Zealand produced when they are in fact imported, or vice versa. In this situation a lack of country of origin labelling can be regarded as deceptive, and hence contrary to Codex guidelines for labelling food. This is a particular problem with food items that have been traditionally New Zealand grown, but are now also imported.

Part 4

Residue information

This Part requires that the Government make available to the public all information it gathers or requires to be gathered on residues in foods of pesticide, heavy metals, industrial chemicals or by-products, veterinary medicines and any other contaminants. Whilst information on some of these items, like pesticide residues and heavy metals, is generally publicly available, information on other items, like veterinary medicines, is routinely withheld.

Consumer's Right to Know (Food Information) Bill

Member's Bill

Contents

1. Title

Part 1
Preliminary provisions

2. Commencement

3. Purpose
4. Administration of Act
5. Interpretation
6. Principles relevant to the purpose of the Act
7. Government responsible for implementation measures

Part 2
GM food and feed

8. Packaged foods

9. Unpackaged foods
10. Exemptions
11. Animal feed
12. Adventitious contamination
13. Traceability

Part 3
Country of origin labelling

14. Packaged produce labelling

15. Unpackaged produce labelling
16. Exemptions

Part 4
Residue information

17. Data on residues and contaminants

_________________________

The Parliament of New Zealand enacts as follows:

1. Title
   This Act is the Consumer's Right to Know (Food Information) Act 2003.

Part 1
Preliminary provisions

2. Commencement
   This Act comes into force on the day after the date on which it receives the Royal assent.
   

3. Purpose
   The purpose of this Act is -
   
   1. to require the Government to ensure the customers can exercise their right to know; and

   2. that requirements that effect the provisions of this Act are incorporated into the appropriate regulations, codes, and policies.

4. Administration of Act
   The Minister for Food Safety and, in relation to sections 10 to 13, the Minister for Consumer Affairs, is responsible for the implementation of the provisions of this Act.
   

5. Interpretation
   In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, -

   Code means the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code

   country of origin means the country in which the produce is grown or, in the case of processed food, the country in which the most significant ingredients, by quantity and food description, are grown

   genetic modification, or GM means using recombinant DNA techniques that alter the heritable genetic material of living cells or organisms, and genetically modified has a correspondent meaning

   genetically modified food, or GM food means food and food ingredients, including additives and flavourings, produced using genetic modification technology

   genetically modified feed, or GM feed means animal feed, compounded feedstuffs and feed additives, produced using genetic modification technology

   operator means a person who places a product on the market and also a person who receives a product that has been placed on the market at any stage of the production and distribution chain, but does not include the ultimate consumer

   traceability means the ability to trace food, animal feed, and ingredients of food and animal feed that are produced using genetic modification technology throughout the production and distribution chains.
   

6. Principles relevant to the purpose of the Act
   For the purposes of this Act, the following principles apply to every decision made or action undertaken:
   
   1. Right to know — everyone has the right to be provided with relevant information on a food product as to make an informed purchasing and consuming decision:

   2. Truth in labelling — the consumer information on a food product must be accurate, accessible at the point of sale, complete and comprehensible in form, allowing for the free and unhindered exercise of the right to know by the consumer.

7. Government responsible for implementation measures
   The Government must ensure that the labelling requirements in Parts 2 and 3 are enforced by -
   
   1. using all available legal and procedural mechanisms to modify the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code to provide for the compulsory GM and country of origin labelling of food sold in New Zealand; and

   2. If the Government has not succeeded in ensuring the labelling is compulsory under the Code, making all reasonable efforts to inform the customers of the level of GM percentage and country of origin of the products being sold in New Zealand by either -
      
      1. recommending to the Governor General to make, by Order in Council, regulations prescribing a Consumer Information Standard of Country of Origin Labelling (Food), within the existing legal framework; or

      2. by making this information available on a government website or in printed form.

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Part 2
GM food and feed

8. Packaged foods
   1. All packaged food derived from genetic modification, or containing an ingredient derived from genetic modification, must be labelled as such regardless of whether or not it contains DNA or protein resulting from that genetic modification.

   2. The label required by subsection (1) must contain the words "derived from genetic modification" in conjunction with the name of the food or in association with any specific ingredients derived from genetic modification, or "genetically modified (name of food)" or "contains genetically modified (name of ingredient)".

9. Unpackaged foods
   All unpackaged food, including bulk foods, derived from genetic modification, or containing an ingredient derived from genetic modification regardless of whether or not it contains DNA or protein resulting from that genetic modification, must have displayed in association with the food the words "derived from genetic modification" in conjunction with the name of the food or in association with any specific ingredients derived from genetic modification, or "genetically modified (name of food)" or "contains genetically modified (name of ingredient)".
   

10. Exemptions
    The following foods are exempted from the provisions of sections 6 and 7:
    
    1. all meat, milk, eggs obtained from animals treated with GM veterinary products, or fed GM food:

    2. food produced with the help of GM enzymes:
    3. takeaway foods and restaurant meals.

11. Animal feed
    1. All genetically modified feed, or feed containing an ingredient derived from genetic modification, must be labelled as such regardless of whether or not it contains DNA or protein resulting from that genetic modification.

    2. The label or associated descriptive material required by subsection (1) must contain the words "derived from genetic modification" in conjunction with the name of the food, or in association with any specific ingredients derived from genetic modification, or "genetically modified (name of feed)" or contains "genetically modified (name of ingredient)".

12. Adventitious contamination
    1. Food or feed which is contaminated by less than 0.5 % of the product by adventitious GM DNA or protein that is approved by Food Safety Australia New Zealand, is exempt from labelling, so long as operators can demonstrate that they have used all appropriate steps to avoid the presence of adventitious contamination.

    2. Food or feed which is contaminated by detectable levels of GM DNA or protein that is not approved by Food Safety Australia New Zealand must be labelled as containing GM material.

13. Traceability
    1. The Governor-General, by Order in Council on the advice of the Minister for Food Safety, must make regulations prescribing a comprehensive traceability system for all foods and feeds containing GM material or derived from GM processes that ensures the ability to trace the food or feed throughout the production and distribution system.

    2. The regulations made under subsection (1) must include, but are not limited to requirements that -
       
       1. operators must ensure that information identifying GM material or GM-derived material in food and feed is transmitted with that material:

       2. operators must have in place systems and procedures to allow the identification of the person from whom and to whom the products referred to in section 11(2) have been made available:
       3. operators must retain the information specified in section 11(2) for a period of 5 years from each transaction, and make it available to competent authorities on demand.
    3. Operators delivering food to the ultimate consumer are exempted from paragraphs (b) and (c).
    4. For the purposes of subsection 2(c), competent authorities means a department or other public organisation, appointed by the Minister for Food Safety for the purposes of this Act.
    5. The Minister for Food Safety must implement a monitoring plan in order to trace and identify any direct or indirect, immediate, delayed or unforeseen effects on human health or the environment of GM food or feed or both after it has been placed on the market.

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Part 3
Country of origin labelling

14. Package produce labelled
    All packaged meat, fish, fruit and vegetables placed on the market in New Zealand must have a labelling identifying its country of origin.

15. Unpackaged produce labelled
    All unpackaged meat, fish, fruit and vegetables, including bulk foods, placed on the market in New Zealand must have the country of origin identified at the point of display for sale.

16. Exemptions
    Meat, fish, fruits, and vegetables which constitute less than 20% of the product are exempt from country of origin labelling.

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Part 4
Residue information

17. Data on residues and contaminants
    1. All information collected by any department, Crown entity or State enterprise, or required to be collected by government agencies, on residues or contaminants in food of pesticides, heavy metals industrial chemicals or by-products, and veterinary medicines or products, or any other contaminant must be made available to members of the public, on a relevant government department website.

    2. The information described in subsection (1) must be made available on request and must be published within 12 months of its being collected.
       

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