Australian food exporters more regulated than NZ counterparts

New Zealand exporters face less regulation and lower costs than their Australian counterparts, a new report says.

The Australian Productivity Commission has released the report, Performance Benchmarking of Australian and New Zealand Business Regulation: Food Safety.

Among its findings are that Australia’s charges for exporting are generally higher, its fee structure more complex and its regulatory system for exports less reliant on economical electronic processing than New Zealand’s.

In both countries red meat exporters incur greater costs and more regulatory intervention than other primary product exporters, the report says.

It also finds the cost and intensity of food safety regulation are inconsistent across Australian and New Zealand local authorities, hindering businesses that operate in several areas on one or both sides of the Tasman.

The report notes that progress has been slow in developing national standards under the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code for primary production and processing.

Australia’s food hygiene standards for consumer food safety are separate to those of New Zealand and, according to the report, are less prescriptive. That means they focus more on outcomes, rather than means.

Associate Commissioner Paul Coghlan says there are encouraging signs regulatory agencies generally use a tailored and measured approach, which assists businesses to comply with regulations.

“Yet unnecessary compliance burdens remain in a number of areas,” he says.

The report was commissioned by the Council of Australian Governments to find ways to reduce regulatory duplication across the two countries, remove unnecessary compliance costs and improve consistency.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) was established in 1991.

While food standards, codes and labelling are set by FSANZ, the New Zealand Food Safety Authority has input into those settings and itself sets New Zealand’s regulations for food safety, primary production and imported and exported food.