ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRY STANDING COMMITTEE REPORT ON THE INQUIRY INTO THE PRODUCTION AND MARKETING OF FOODSTUFFS Report No. 4 in the 37 th Parliament 2006 ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRY STANDING COMMITTEE Published by the Legislative Assembly, Parliament of Western Australia, Perth, March 2006 . Printed by the Government Printer, State Law Publisher, Western Australia. Economics and Industry Standing Committee Report on the Inquiry into the Production and Marketing of Foodstuffs ISBN: 1 920830 62 6 (Series: Western Australia. Parliament. Legislative Assembly. Committees. Economics and Industry Standing Committee. Report 4) 328.365 Copies available from: State Law Publisher 10 William Street PERTH WA 6000 Telephone: (08) 9321 7688 Facsimile: (08) 9321 7536 Email: [email protected] Copies available on-line: www.parliament.wa.gov.au - 2 - ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRY STANDING COMMITTEE REPORT ON THE INQUIRY INTO THE PRODUCTION AND MARKETING OF FOODSTUFFS Report No. 4 Presented by: Ms J.A. Radisich, MLA Laid on the Table of the Legislative Assembly on 30 March 2006 ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRY STANDING COMMITTEE COMMITTEE MEMBERS Chair Ms J.A. Radisich, MLA Member for Swan Hills Deputy Chair Mr G.A. Woodhams, MLA Member for Greenough Members Hon. Dr J.M. Edwards, MLA Member for Maylands from 7 March 2006 Mr M.P. Murray, MLA Member for Collie-Wellington Mr A.J. Simpson, MLA Member for Serpentine-Jarrahdale from 15 November 2005 Mr T.R. Buswell, MLA Member for Vasse until 15 November 2005 Hon. D.A. Templeman, MLA Member for Mandurah until 3 February 2006 Co-opted Members Mr P.D. Omodei, MLA Member for Warren-Blackwood Mr D.T. Redman, MLA Member for Stirling COMMITTEE STAFF Principal Research Officer Dr Karen Hall, BSc (Hons), PhD Research Officer Ms Jovita Hogan, BA (Hons) - i - ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRY STANDING COMMITTEE COMMITTEE ADDRESS Economics and Industry Standing Committee Legislative Assembly Tel: (08) 9222 7494 Parliament House Fax: (08) 9222 7804 Harvest Terrace Email: [email protected] PERTH WA 6000 Website: www.parliament.wa.gov.au - ii - ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRY STANDING COMMITTEE TABLE OF CONTENTS COMMITTEE MEMBERS ..............................................................................................................................i COMMITTEE STAFF......................................................................................................................................i COMMITTEE ADDRESS ...............................................................................................................................i COMMITTEE’S FUNCTIONS AND POWERS......................................................................................... vii INQUIRY TERMS OF REFERENCE ...........................................................................................................ix CHAIR’S FOREWORD.................................................................................................................................xi ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS.................................................................................................... xiii GLOSSARY ..................................................................................................................................................xv EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..........................................................................................................................xix FINDINGS..................................................................................................................................................xxix RECOMMENDATIONS........................................................................................................................... lxvii MINISTERIAL RESPONSE...................................................................................................................... lxxi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................1 1.1 BACKGROUND..................................................................................................................................1 1.2 CONDUCT OF THE INQUIRY ..........................................................................................................1 1.3 SCOPE OF THE REPORT...................................................................................................................3 CHAPTER 2 THE MARKET DOMINANCE OF MAJOR RETAIL CHAINS IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA AND THEIR IMPACT ON ALL SECTIONS OF THE MARKET, INCLUDING PRODUCTION AND WHOLESALING....................................................................................5 2.1 THE SUPERMARKET AND GROCERY RETAIL MARKET..........................................................5 (a) Company profiles – the national supermarket chains ....................................................5 (b) Defining ‘market share’ .................................................................................................8 (c) The supermarket sector in Western Australia ..............................................................16 2.2 RELATIONSHIPS ALONG THE FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN.............................................................18 (a) Producers, wholesalers and the major supermarkets....................................................18 (b) Other retailers and the major supermarket chains........................................................23 (c) Product and Grocery Industry Code of Conduct..........................................................24 2.3 ACCESSING THE RETAIL MARKET ............................................................................................27 (a) Business dealings with the major supermarkets...........................................................27 (b) Buying policies and practices of the supermarkets ......................................................31 2.4 IMPLICATIONS OF WOOLWORTHS TAKEOVER OF ACTION STORES ................................37 CHAPTER 3 THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF AUSTRALIAN AND IMPORTED FOODSTUFFS ....43 3.1 WESTERN AUSTRALIANS’ PERCEPTIONS ABOUT THE SAFETY OF IMPORTED FOODSTUFFS ...................................................................................................................................44 3.2 POTENTIAL FOOD CONTAMINANTS AND THEIR ASSOCIATED HEALTH EFFECTS .......47 (a) Physical contaminants..................................................................................................47 (b) Biological contaminants...............................................................................................48 (c) Chemical contaminants................................................................................................50 3.3 RECENT TRENDS IN AUSTRALIAN FOOD IMPORTS...............................................................59 (a) Which foods do we import? .........................................................................................59 (b) From where do our food imports come? ......................................................................60 3.4 FOOD SAFETY STANDARDS IN AUSTRALIA’S MAJOR FOOD IMPORT SOURCES ...........68 (a) New Zealand ................................................................................................................68 (b) United States ................................................................................................................73 (c) Ireland ..........................................................................................................................80 (d) Thailand .......................................................................................................................83 (e) China............................................................................................................................90 3.5 AUSTRALIAN FOOD SAFETY.....................................................................................................102 (a) Australia’s environment.............................................................................................102 (b) Regulation of food safety in Australia .......................................................................109 (c) Monitoring food safety...............................................................................................117 - iii - ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRY STANDING COMMITTEE (d) Australian food safety................................................................................................122 3.6 MONITORING IMPORTED FOOD SAFETY ...............................................................................135 (a) The Imported Food Inspection Scheme .....................................................................136 (b) National Competition Policy Review of the Imported Food Control Act 1992 .........140 (c) Trans Tasman Mutual Recognition Act 1997 .............................................................144 (d) The nature of inspection and testing of imported foods.............................................148 (e) Results from imported food inspections ....................................................................153 (f) Concluding remarks...................................................................................................160 CHAPTER 4 THE LABELLING OF FOODSTUFFS AND THEIR ORIGINS TO IDENTIFY THE LOCATION WHERE PRODUCE IS GROWN AND PACKED.........................................163 4.1 BACKGROUND..............................................................................................................................163