The Treaty between Australia and New Zealand in 1996 established a framework for the harmonization of food standards, the elaboration of a joint Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, in order to reduce unnecessary barriers to trade. In 2000, the Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments entered into a new Agreement, requiring amendment to the ANZFA Act and amendment to the Treaty with New Zealand. These two processes are being implemented at the moment. Possible and significant changes in the way that ANZFA operates, as a result, is annotated in this report.

Following public concern about the safety of A1 milk and criticism from some quarters of the New Zealand Food Safety Authority’s (NZFSA’s) handling of the release of a report by Professor Boyd Swinburn on beta-casein A1 and A2 in milk and possible effects on human health, NZFSA decided to commission two reviews. This is the report of the first of these and deals with NZFSA’s framework for managing food safety risks.

This guidance document (CAC/GL 63-2007) includes preliminary microbiological risk management (MRM) activities, as well as identification, selection, implementation, monitoring and review of MRM options/activities.

This document includes:

Annex I: Suggested Elements to Include in a Microbiological Risk Profile

Annex II: Guidance on Microbiological Risk Management Metrics

Please note that CAC/GL 63 was adopted in 2007. However, Annex II of this document was adopted in 2008.

The Procedural Manual of the Codex Alimentarius Commission describes the legal foundations and practical functioning of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies. Knowledge of the contents of this Manual is essential for Codex members and observers to participate effectively in the work of the Commission. This document may also be found here.

FAO/WHO convened an expert meeting in collaboration with the Federal Dairy Research Centre, Institute for Hygiene and Food Safety, Kiel, Germany, 3-7 April 2006. This expert meeting aimed to delineate the different ways in which Microbiological Risk Assessment (MRA) can contribute to the development of effective risk management strategies for implementation at different steps along the food-chain.The report describes some of the recent international activities, which included undertaking case studies and convening an expert meeting, and the outcomes of discussions on the use of Microbiological Risk Assessment (MRA) in microbiological risk management.

This report from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) discusses animal disease diagnosis, surveillance, risk analysis, general recommendations in disease prevention and control, trade measures, veterinary public health, and animal welfare.

This report describes how both the identification of the standards of acceptable risk appropriate to different types of food hazards, and the establishment of procedures to ensure that the risks are kept within the limits set by those standards play a crucial role in developing food safety for all countries. Included in this report are guidelines for building a risk management framework, general principles of risk management, and current risk management practices provided by the Codex. In addition, conclusions and recommendations and a structural diagram of risk analysis in general are included in the annexes.

Report of the Joint FAO/WHO Consultation held March 18-22, 2002 in Kiel, Germany. It includes background information and objectives of the consultation. Topics discussed include the development of guidelines for the use of microbial risk assessment in the development of food safety standards, experience gained from previous microbial risk assessments, and the special case of developing countries. Annex II to this report provides a list of background papers. Annex III is entitled "Draft Guidelines for Incorporating Microbiological Risk Assessment in the Development of Food Safety Standards." It includes discussion of preliminary risk management activities, risk management options evaluation, implementation of the decided upon controls, and monitoring and review issues. Annex IV discusses the application of microbial risk assessment by industry. This document may also be found here.

Portal for the exchange of official phytosanitary information, in order to enhance the control of the spread and introduction of pests to plants and plant products. The website includes news, events, a directory of National PLant Protection Organizations (NPPOs) and Regional Plant Protection Organizations (RPPOs), services, and resources. There are also publications, including Interim Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (ICPM) Reports, International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs), Standards Committee (SC) Reports, and more