FGC welcomes updated Food Bill

The passing of the Food Bill gives New Zealand’s food regulatory regime a much-needed update, says NZ Food & Grocery Council Chief Executive Katherine Rich.

“As a country so dependent on food production, New Zealand needs to ensure it has modern food law, and this will certainly achieve that.

“The bill will allow food businesses to manage their own food safety using tools based on the level of risk depending on the food they produce, rather than the existing one-size-fits-all approach.

“The new law has been a long time coming, and we pay tribute to the meticulous work undertaken by the Ministry for Primary Industries.

“The existing legislation is more than 30 years old and has regulations that are nearly 40 years old. A lot has happened in food production and technology in that time.

“Members of the Food & Grocery Council already have sophisticated risk-based systems in place, and the new Food Act will provide a clearer underpinning of those systems.

“This legislation is vital to New Zealand’s economic future as a supplier of food to the world.”

Ends

© Scoop Media