Bills Digest No. 111 2002-03
Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Legislation Amendment Bill (No.
2) 2002
WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as introduced
and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest does not have
any official legal status. Other sources should be consulted to determine
the subsequent official status of the Bill.
CONTENTS
Passage History
Purpose
Main Provisions
Endnotes
Contact Officer & Copyright Details
Passage History
Agriculture,
Fisheries and Forestry Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2002
Date Introduced:
12 December 2002
House:
House of Representatives
Portfolio:
Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
Commencement:
Various.
Purpose
To amend the
- Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation Act 1980 to deal with
a European Union wine trading agreement and to extend the time limit
for prosecutions of an offence
- Export Control Act 1982: to permit regulation pursuant to the
Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, similar United States
code, etc;
- National Residue Survey Administration Act 1992: to clarify
the way in which the National Residue Survey Reserve may be applied
and to implement privacy principles;
- Quarantine Act 1908: to bring offence provisions into line
with the Criminal Code;
- Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Legislation Amendment Act (No.
1) 2002: to allow some amendments to be brought forward, depending
on that Act's commencement; and
- Dairy Industry Legislation Amendment Act 2002: to correct a
technical error.
Schedule 1 amends the Australian Wine and Brandy
Corporation Act 1980.
Item 1 expands the powers of the Australian Wine
and Brandy Corporation so that it may give effect to a 'prescribed wine-trading
agreement' (new paragraph 8(2)(aaa)). Item 5 allows the
regulations to impose obligations to give effect such an agreement (new
paragraph 46(1)(b)).
In 1995 Australia and New Zealand agreed to establish
a joint food standards regime. The new Australia New Zealand Food Standards
Code (the Code) was gazetted in December 2000. Essentially, the Code
'aims to reduce the prescription of existing food regulations in both
countries and lead to greater industry innovation, competition and trade'.(1)
The Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code
was intended to replace the Australian Food Standards Code and
to become the sole food code for both countries by December 2002. The
Food Standards Code had been subject to a standards-by-standards
review by the Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANSFA) since 1994.
It was also subject to a review under the National Competition Policy
in February 2002.(2) During the latter review, ANZFA identified
anti-competitive anomalies arising from an EU wine trade agreement:
ANZFA determined that some of the production provisions
for wine that underpin Australias Agreement with the EU (and contained
in Volume 1 of the Food Standards Code) were inappropriate
in a joint wine standard because they prescribed practices relating
to wine quality that could become technical barriers to trade.
Under the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code,
wine and wine products are regulated by various food standards including
Standard 2.7.4. This 'sets general definitions for wine and wine product
and provides permissions for the addition of certain foods during the
production of wine'.(3) While it recognises 'accepted wine
practices throughout the world', it was not to be strict enough to give
effect to the wine trade agreement which 'relies on Australian wine being
recognised as wine of designated quality and origin'.
The issue was resolved by amending the Australia New
Zealand Food Standards Code. A new standard was included that only
applies to relevant wine made in Australia. Standard 4.1.1 'regulates
the production of traditional wine, sparkling wine and fortified wine'.(4)
It duplicates the effect of the production provisions in Volume 1 of the
Food Standards Code.
It was considered impractical to amend the Australian
Wine and Brandy Corporation Act 1980 as the Act was limited by legislative
powers under the Commonwealth Constitution. It did not cover all wine
made and sold in Australia, 'particularly wine manufactured by unincorporated
bodies and not traded interstate or internationally'.(5)
Items 1 and 5 allow the Australian Wine
and Brandy Corporation and the regulations to resolve some residual regulatory
issues surrounding the EU wine trading agreement.
Item 3 inserts a provision that extends the time
limit for prosecutions of offences in relation to the export of grape
products. Ordinarily the time limit would be one year. The time limit
proposed by the amendment would be 7 years.
Commencement
Schedule 1 commences on Royal Assent.
Schedule 2Export Control Act 1982
Schedule 2 amends the Export Control Act 1982.
Regulations under the Export Control Act 1982 may
empower the Minister to make orders in relation to any matters covered
by the Regulations (paragraph 25(2)(g)). Orders may deal with a matter
by 'applying, adopting or incorporating, with or without modification,'
various matters including provisions of principal or subordinate legislation
and overseas importation guidelines relating to the production of goods
in Australia (subsection 25(5)).
Item 1 provides that, in the absence of such importation
guidelines, an order may apply, etc. any matter contained in the Australia
New Zealand Food Standards Code or the equivalent United Nations document,
the Codex Alimentarius.(6)
Commencement
Schedule 2 commences on Royal Assent.
Schedule 3 National Residue Survey Administration
Act 1992
Schedule 3 amends the National Residue Survey
Administration Act 1992.
The National Residue Survey (NRS) monitors residues of
agricultural and veterinary chemicals in raw agricultural produce to meet
national and international requirements. This is generally required for
access agreements for both export and domestic markets.(7)
The National Residue Survey Administration Act 1992
establishes the National Residue Survey Reserve, a fund comprising levies,
penalties, matching payments, etc. that may be spent primarily on monitoring,
reporting, testing and prevention in respect of contaminants in food products,
animal feed, or fibre products that are produced in Australia or are produced
from animals or plants that are themselves produced in Australia (section
8(1)).
Items 16 restructure and clarify the provisions
regulating expenditure from the Reserve.
Instead of 'food products, animal feed, or fibre products'
the Act would refer to 'food products', 'products of a primary industry'
or items used in producing these products.
As is presently the case, the Reserve would be applicable
to testing of contaminants. This would extend expressly to testing of
the environment and would encompass potential sources and causes of contaminants
rather than merely actual sources and causes per se.
Similarly, the Reserve would be applicable to prevention.
This would extend also to risk management in relation to contamination
of applicable products.
Item 7 replaces an existing provision governing
release of information to better reflect privacy issues, particularly
by imposing a penalty on unlawful disclosure.
Commencement
Schedule 3 commences on Royal Assent.
Schedule 4 Quarantine Act 1908
Schedule 4 amends the Quarantine Act 1908.
Most of these amendments bring offence provisions into
line with the Criminal Code.
Item 3 clarifies the operation of a provision
governing 'first ports of entry'. Currently, it is an offence to enter
Australia or the Cocos Islands otherwise than by a 'first port of entry'
without the permission of the Minister (section 20). The amendment clarifies
that:
- the issue of permission is a defence rather than an element of the
offence, making this a matter for which the defendant owes an evidential
burden, and
- the offence applies to Christmas Island.
Item 4 makes a similar amendment in relation to
overseas aircraft.
Item 5 restructures a provision dealing with aircraft
entering Australia. It splits the offence into two provisions, one dealing
with commanders and the other with operators. It also clarifies that the
offence applies to Christmas Island.
Item 6 clarifies the operation of a provision
governing boarding and approaching vessels. It separates the offence and
defence provisions in accordance with the Criminal Code.
Items 821, 2325, 2728 and 3033
have similar aims in relation to other offences.
Commencement
Most of Schedule 4 commences 28 days after Royal
Assent. The commencement of items 35 and 23 are contingent
upon the commencement of item 1 of Schedule 1 to the Agriculture,
Fisheries and Forestry Legislation Amendment Act (No. 1) 2002.
Schedule 5 contains amendments relating to Christmas
Island that are contingent upon the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
Legislation Amendment Act (No. 1) 2002. If item 1 of Schedule 1
of that Act commences before item 1 of Schedule 4 of the
principal Bill, then Schedule 5 is redundant and its amendments
do not come into operation.
Commencement
Schedule 5 commences 28 days after Royal Assent,
subject to the commencement of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
Legislation Amendment Act (No. 1) 2002.
Schedule 6 Dairy Industry Legislation
Amendment Act 2002
Schedule 5 amends the Dairy Industry Legislation
Amendment Act 2002 to correct a technical error among the amendments
made by that Act.
Commencement
Schedule 6 commences immediately after the time
specified for the relevant amendment in the Dairy Industry Legislation
Amendment Act 2002.
- Australia and New Zealand Food Authority, Initial/Draft
Assessment Report P253; Wine Production (Australia Only), 8
May 2002, p. 3.
- Food Standards Australia New Zealand, National
Competition Policy Review on the Food Standards Code, February 2002.
- Food Standards Australia New Zealand, Food Standards Code at
http://www.anzfa.gov.au/foodstandardscode/,
Standard 2.7.4.
- Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation, Standard P4 Wine, Sparkling
Wine and Fortified Wine at http://www.awbc.com.au/winelaw/standard_p4.asp.
- Australia and New Zealand Food Authority, Initial/Draft
Assessment Report P253; Wine Production (Australia Only), 8
May 2002, p. 7.
- See generally the Website of the Codex Alimentarius Commission of
the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the
World Health Organization: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/.
- For example, since 1985 a national residue monitoring program and
certification has been a mandatory requirement for nations exporting
meat and poultry products to the United States.
Nathan Hancock
12 February 2003
Bills Digest Service
Information and Research Services
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ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 2003
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