Reform of food regulation in Australia and New Zealand

Australia and New Zealand agreed to establish a joint system for developing food standards in 1996. The establishment of the joint system provided the opportunity to reform the food regulatory requirements for composition, labelling and contaminants, culminating in the development of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. In addition to the development of the joint food standards system, several other regulatory reforms have occurred over the same period. These include the establishment in Australia of a national food safety regulatory system, and in both countries, a shift towards the pre-market safety assessment and approval of certain whole foods, such as genetically modified foods. The impact of the regulatory reforms is subject to an ongoing program of evaluation