Background to the Proposal
Standard 4.2.1. is the Primary Production and Processing (PPP) Standard for Seafood in the Australia & New Zealand Food Standards Code.
The Primary Produce Safety Act 2011 (the Act) applies Standard 4.2.1 to the Tasmanian seafood industry; at the industry level via the Primary Produce Safety (Seafood) Regulations 2014 (Seafood Food Safety Scheme) and, at the business enterprise level, via mandatory accreditation for high-risk seafood production.
Accreditation is the internationally recognised mechanism for verifying business compliance with PPP standards such as Standard 4.2.1.
The Scheme will require producers of smoked or preserved fish to:
- comply with Standard 4.2.1;
- hold an accreditation in order to carry on a business involving the production or processing of seafood; and
- prepare and implement an approved (usually HACCP based) food safety program which is audited at least once a year (NB: The Act allows audits to be performed by approved private third party auditors).
The fish currently regulated under the Seafood Food Safety Scheme are bivalve molluscs (cockles, clams, mussels, oysters, pipis, and scallops) and abalone. The Chief Inspector has also proposed that “smoked and preserved fish” are to be made a regulated class of fish under the Seafood Food Safety Scheme.
For the purposes of the proposed determination, “smoked or preserved fish” means any fish that is smoked, cured, brined or otherwise processed in order to be made suitable for human consumption without further heating or cooking, such as –
- hot or cold smoked fish; or
- canned fish; or
- pickled fish; or
- fish pate; or
- other similar ready-to-eat fish.
The public comment period: from 15 July 2020 to 6 August 2020
How to make a submission
Please make a written submission by 6 August 2020 if you would like to comment on the proposal.
Submissions can be sent to:
Chief.Inspector@nre.tas.gov.au
Or
The Chief Inspector
Product Integrity Branch
Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania
PO Box 46
KINGSMEADOWS TAS 7249
Next Steps
After the public submission period a final Notice will be posted in the Government Gazette. Feedback from the public submissions on the proposal will be considered in the preparation of the final Notice. Key issues raised through the public submissions will be summarised and released.
Additional information
Copies of Tasmanian legislation are available for download from the Tasmanian Legislation website:
Consultation and Engagement
Significant stakeholder and public engagement has been undertaken to inform the development of the guidelines and the proposed determination.
Stakeholder engagement sessions were held across the state in 2019 as part of the consultation for the guidelines. We appreciate all those who attended and made constructive contributions.
Confidentiality of submissions
Other than indicated below, submissions will be treated as public information and will be published on our website once consideration of submissions has concluded.
No personal information other than an individual’s name or the organisation making a submission will be published.
Accessibility of submissions
The Government recognises that not all individuals or groups are equally placed to access and understand information. We are therefore committed to ensuring Government information is accessible and easily understood by people with diverse communication needs.
Where possible, please consider typing your submission in plain English and providing it in a format such as Microsoft Word or equivalent.
The Government cannot however take responsibility for the accessibility of documents provided by third parties.
Important information to note
Your name (or the name of the organisation) will be published unless you request otherwise.
In the absence of a clear indication that a submission is intended to be treated as confidential (or parts of the submission), the Department will treat the submission as public.
If you would like your submission treated as confidential, whether in whole or in part, please indicate this in writing at the time of making your submission clearly identifying the parts of your submission you want to remain confidential and the reasons why. In this case, your submission will not be published to the extent of that request.
Copyright in submissions remains with the author(s), not with the Tasmanian Government.
The Department will not publish, in whole or in part, submissions containing defamatory or offensive material. If your submission includes information that could enable the identification of other individuals then either all or parts of the submission will not be published.
The Right to Information Act 2009 and confidentiality
Information provided to the Government may be provided to an applicant under the provisions of the Right to Information Act 2009 (RTI). If you have indicated that you wish all or part of your submission to be treated as confidential, your statement detailing the reasons may be taken into account in determining whether or not to release the information in the event of an RTI application for assessed disclosure. You may also be contacted to provide any further comment.