Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991 (Cth)

The Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991 (Cth) establishes Food Standards Australia New Zealand, commonly called FSANZ, as the authority with functions relating to the development of food regulatory measures. The Act is part of the legal structure behind the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code and the broader joint food standards system used by Australia and New Zealand.

The object of the Act is to ensure a high standard of public health protection throughout Australia and New Zealand. It also aims to support a high degree of consumer confidence in the quality and safety of food, provide an effective, transparent and accountable regulatory framework within which the food industry can work efficiently, give consumers adequate information to make informed choices, and promote common rules and consistency between domestic and international food regulatory measures without reducing public health and consumer protection safeguards.

For businesses, this means the Act is not just about creating a government body. It is the law that explains how food standards are developed, varied, reviewed, published and brought into effect. If your business relies on the Food Standards Code for product composition, labelling, claims or other compliance settings, this Act is part of the reason those rules exist and why they can change over time.

The Act matters most to businesses that make, prepare, process, import, market or sell food, because it supports the standards framework that applies across the food supply chain. The definition provisions are broad and the Act is designed to support standards affecting food produced, processed, sold or exported from Australia and New Zealand.

That means the framework is relevant to manufacturers, processors, importers, distributors, retailers, hospitality operators, brand owners and businesses that sell food through digital channels. It also matters to businesses that want to change the rules, because the Act contains a formal application pathway for the development or variation of food regulatory measures and allows FSANZ to initiate proposals itself.

Online businesses should not assume they sit outside the system. If food is sold through ecommerce stores, apps, subscription services or marketplaces, the same standards framework still matters. The sales channel may be digital, but the product is still food and the applicable standards still need to be met.

Under the Act, FSANZ is the authority responsible for developing food regulatory measures. The Act deals with standards and codes of practice, and it makes clear that a code of practice is not a standard. It also sets out the Authority's objectives when developing or reviewing food regulatory measures and gives it powers connected with applications, proposals, public notice, assessment, submissions and draft standards or variations.

For business owners, the important distinction is that FSANZ develops the standards framework, but it is not usually the regulator you deal with for routine compliance activity. In practice, businesses are commonly inspected, registered and enforced against by state and territory food regulators and local councils under the broader food law system.

This distinction matters because some businesses assume that the body that develops standards must also be the body that licenses, inspects or prosecutes them. That is not usually how the system works in practice. This Act supports the standards-making system. Day to day enforcement generally sits elsewhere, so businesses should check both the current Food Standards Code and the state or territory requirements that apply to their operations.

The Act recognises the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code and defines it by reference to the code published under the name Food Standards Code together with amendments approved before the Act commenced and amendments made under the Act. It also defines a food regulatory measure as a standard or a code of practice.

The Act includes provisions about matters that may be included in standards and variations of standards, and it states that standards and variations are legislative instruments. That is important for businesses because it confirms that standards are not just guidance material. They are part of the legal framework that businesses need to track.

In practical terms, businesses should read this Act together with the current Food Standards Code. The Act tells you how the rules are made, varied and reviewed. The Code is usually where you will find the detailed product and labelling requirements that apply in market.

Part 3 of the Act sets out detailed pathways for applications and proposals. An application is generally the pathway where an outside party seeks the development or variation of a food regulatory measure. A proposal is the pathway where FSANZ starts the process itself. The Act then sets out the steps for acceptance, public notice, assessment, preparation of a draft standard or variation, calling for submissions, approval and notification to the Forum on Food Regulation.

The Act also modifies the general procedure for minor variations, for developing new food regulatory measures and major variations, and for certain variations of the Nutrition, Health and Related Claims Standard. There is also a separate Division dealing with variations by APVMA of the Maximum Residue Limits Standard.

For businesses, this means there is a formal and structured pathway for changing the rules. If your product does not fit neatly within the current Code, or if you want a standard changed, you should expect a regulated process rather than an informal request. It also means timing can vary depending on the type of change being sought.

Division 4 of Part 3 creates a specific urgent pathway for urgent applications and proposals. It includes provisions for a declaration of urgency, preparation of a draft standard or variation, and approval and publication of the resulting standard or variation.

The urgent pathway does not end there. The Act then provides for later assessment of the resulting standard or variation, calling for submissions, re-affirming the standard or variation or proposing changes, and possible review by the Forum on Food Regulation. The Forum may also revoke or amend the standard or variation at that later stage.

For businesses, this is important because food standards can move quickly where there is an urgent issue. If your products are affected by an emergency response, contamination event, emerging health concern or similar risk, you may need to act on a changed standard before the longer ordinary process would usually finish. Businesses in higher risk sectors should monitor updates closely and not assume that all changes will follow the slower standard pathway.

The Act gives the Forum on Food Regulation a review role for draft standards and draft variations of standards. The Forum may request a review, and after review it may amend or reject the draft in the circumstances provided for by the Act. The Act also includes publication requirements and states when a standard or variation takes effect.

This matters to businesses because the standards system is not a closed internal process. It includes ministerial and intergovernmental oversight, publication steps and review mechanisms that can affect timing and final outcomes. A draft position is not always the final position.

If your business is planning a product launch, packaging run or marketing campaign around a proposed variation, check whether the measure has actually taken effect and whether any review process is still underway. That is especially important where the business case depends on a new claim, ingredient setting or other regulatory change.

The Act includes provisions dealing with confidential commercial information, documents and samples becoming Commonwealth property, fees for services provided to New Zealand, and charges relating to the Authority's costs. It also includes provisions about late payment penalties, discounts for early payment, and remissions and refunds in relation to those charges.

These parts of the Act are most relevant to businesses that engage directly with FSANZ through applications, technical submissions or other formal processes. If you provide material to support an application or variation request, you should understand how the Act treats confidential commercial information and what charging provisions may apply.

The Act also allows the Authority to require further information and to hold public hearings. In practice, that means businesses considering a formal application should have their technical evidence, product data, supporting documents and internal records organised before starting the process.

This Act does not operate as a simple shelf level checklist for every food business. Instead, it creates the standards-making system that businesses must track and respond to. The practical compliance burden usually comes from the Food Standards Code and from state and territory food laws that enforce those standards. Even so, there are clear business actions that follow from this Act.

If you sell food, you should identify which standards apply to your products, monitor changes to the Code, and check whether any proposed, approved or urgent variations affect your labels, ingredients, claims, formulations or supply arrangements. If you are considering an application to FSANZ, you should be ready for a formal process involving public notice, submissions, possible requests for more information and review steps.

Businesses operating across Australia and New Zealand should also remember that the Act is built around a joint standards system. Cross-border product planning should be checked carefully rather than assuming a purely domestic approach will be enough. The same practical point applies to online sales. Product pages, digital descriptions and app-based sales channels should be reviewed as part of the same compliance process, not treated as separate from the physical product.

Before relying on this page for a business decision, check the current version of the Act and the current Food Standards Code. The current compilation referred to here is compilation number 29, dated 14 October 2024. The Register notes that uncommenced amendments are not shown in the text of the compilation.

The Register also notes that application, saving and transitional provisions may affect how amendments operate, and that modifications by another law may affect how the compiled law operates without changing the text shown in the compilation. That means a business should not rely only on the face of the compilation if the issue is time sensitive or commercially significant.

You should also check whether your issue is really about standards development under this Act, or about operational compliance and enforcement under state or territory food legislation. Many practical business questions involve both. For example, a label issue may require you to check the Code, the current status of any recent variation, and the enforcement approach of the regulator in your jurisdiction.

This page is based on the current compilation of the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991 (Cth) on the Federal Register of Legislation, compilation number 29, dated 14 October 2024. Always check the latest registered version and any later amendments, commencements, endnotes or related instruments before relying on a specific process step or legal outcome.