Food Safety Accreditation

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (14:35): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Primary Industries about food safety accreditation processes.

Leave granted.

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI: Many butchers and other businesses within the meat industry have approached the opposition over recent months due to frustration with significant delays in the food safety accreditation process and the lack of consultation and communication from the minister and her department as to the reasons for those delays. It is the opposition's understanding that the food safety accreditation process, which previously, up until about 12 months ago, took on average 10 days, is now taking months, if not sometimes up to a year. My question to the minister is: what is the reason for the delays in food safety accreditation for these small businesses?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:36): I thank the honourable member for her question. The food standards team in PIRSA is responsible for accrediting primary production businesses in accordance with the Primary Produce (Food Safety Schemes) Act 2004. There are over 1,100 businesses currently accredited under the Primary Produce (Food Safety Schemes) Act to produce a range of foods for public sale.

All businesses undertaking production of food products regulated under the Primary Produce (Food Safety Schemes) Act 2004 must be accredited to undertake that activity. This ensures that the public can be confident that the food they consume is safe to eat. The types of food include ready-to-eat meat products, such as smallgoods. These foods, if not produced safely and in compliance with required standards, can pose a significant food safety risk to consumers.

In January, I became aware of delays, which I immediately raised with the chief executive, in regard to the accreditation process. I was advised that a significant review of the process for accreditation under the act was progressing and had resulted in some delays in processing applications for accreditation. Following those discussions, as an interim measure, temporary accreditations were provided to businesses to enable them to continue to operate and a revised food safety arrangement was provided to all existing applicants under the meat food safety scheme. By adopting the food safety arrangement, businesses can be confident that they can meet the legislative requirements for their specific activities.

Recently, to address further concerns raised by industry about continuing delays, I have asked the chief executive to have direct oversight of the management of the issue to ensure resolutions as soon as practical. It is my strong expectation that this issue will be dealt with by the chief executive. I am advised that the review identified some improvements that are being implemented progressively to the accreditation process. PIRSA and our food producing industry continues to take food safety very seriously and the system in place continues to serve the public, as is demonstrated by very low rates of reported food safety incidents.