The Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee Regulatory approaches to ensure the safety of pet food October 2018 © Commonwealth of Australia 2017 ISBN 978-1-76010-854-0 This document was prepared by the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport and printed by the Senate Printing Unit, Department of the Senate, Parliament House, Canberra. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License. The details of this licence are available on the Creative Commons website: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/. Membership of the committee Members Senator Glenn Sterle, Chair Western Australia, ALP Senator Barry O'Sullivan, Deputy Chair Queensland, NATS Senator Slade Brockman Western Australia, LP Senator Anthony Chisholm Queensland, ALP Senator Malarndirri McCarthy Northern Territory, ALP Senator Janet Rice Victoria, AG Other Senators participating in this inquiry Senator Stirling Griff South Australia, CA iii Secretariat Dr Jane Thomson, Secretary Ms Sarah Redden, Principal Research Officer Ms Trish Carling, Senior Research Officer Ms Lillian Tern, Senior Research Officer (to 14 September 2018) Ms Helen Ulcoq, Research Officer (to 27 July 2018) Mr Michael Fisher, Research Officer Mr Max Stenstrom, Administrative Officer PO Box 6100 Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Ph: 02 6277 3511 Fax: 02 6277 5811 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.aph.gov.au/senate_rrat iv Table of contents Membership of the committee ......................................................................... iii Abbreviations and acronyms ............................................................................ ix List of recommendations ................................................................................... xi Chapter 1.............................................................................................................. 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 Referral of the inquiry ............................................................................................ 1 Conduct of the inquiry ............................................................................................ 1 Acknowledgment .................................................................................................... 2 Note on references .................................................................................................. 2 Structure and scope of the report ............................................................................ 2 Pet ownership in Australia ...................................................................................... 3 Pet food controls in Australia ................................................................................. 4 Pet Food Controls Working Group 2009 – 2012 ................................................... 6 Development and review of the Australian Standard 2009 – 2017 ........................ 7 Requirements under the Australian Standard ......................................................... 8 Recent developments ............................................................................................ 12 Chapter 2............................................................................................................ 13 Pet food incidents .................................................................................................... 13 Megaesophagus cases ........................................................................................... 13 Other adverse incidents relating to pet food ......................................................... 16 Impact of adverse events ...................................................................................... 23 Processed pet food ................................................................................................ 25 Chapter 3............................................................................................................ 29 Pet food safety controls in Australia ..................................................................... 29 Self-regulatory model ........................................................................................... 29 State and territory legislation................................................................................ 31 Related laws .......................................................................................................... 34 Other industries .................................................................................................... 37 International models of pet food regulation ......................................................... 38 Chapter 4............................................................................................................ 45 Enhancing the safety and integrity of pet food in Australia............................... 45 Regulatory options ................................................................................................ 51 Chapter 5 ................................................................................................................. 57 Strengthening pet food recall and reporting arrangements ............................... 57 Protections for consumers .................................................................................... 58 Central information portal .................................................................................... 62 Chapter 6............................................................................................................ 67 Transparent adverse pet food reporting and investigation ................................ 67 Reporting adverse events ................................................................................... 67 Improving PetFAST ............................................................................................. 68 Direct consumer reporting mechanism ................................................................. 74 Chapter 7............................................................................................................ 77 Committee view and recommendations................................................................ 77 Publication and public oversight of the Australian Standard ............................... 77 Regulatory pathways ............................................................................................ 77 Improving the Australian Standard ...................................................................... 78 Pet food product recall and reporting framework ................................................ 79 Adverse event reporting ....................................................................................... 80 Consumer complaints and reporting mechanism ................................................. 81 Investigation and education .................................................................................. 81 Appendix 1 ......................................................................................................... 83 vi vii Submissions received .............................................................................................. 83 Additional information received ........................................................................... 86 Appendix 2 ........................................................................................................... 1 Public hearings and witnesses ................................................................................. 1 Abbreviations and acronyms AAFCO Association of American Feed Controls Officials ABARES Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences ACCC Australian Competition and Consumer Commission APVMA Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority AQIS Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service AMA Animal Medicines Australia Australian Standard Australian Standard for the Manufacturing and Marketing of Pet Food AVA Australian Veterinary Association BFF Best Feline Friend cat food (Weruva brand) DAWR Department of Agriculture and Water Resources EU European Union FDA Food and Drug Administration (United States) FEDIAF European Pet Food Industry Association FIAAA Feed Ingredients and Additives Association of Australia FSANZ Food Standards Australia New Zealand LAV Latvian Association of Veterinarians HACCP Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point PetFAST Pet Food Adverse Event System of Tracking PFCWG Pet Food Controls Working Group PFIAA Pet Food Industry Association of Australia RASFF Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (European Union) SVD Latvian State Veterinary Department US United States x List of recommendations Recommendation 1 7.4 The committee recommends that the Australian Standard for the Manufacturing and Marketing of Pet Food (AS5812:2017) be made publically available on the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources' website for download and distribution. Recommendation 2 7.9 The committee recommends that, as part of its review into the safety and regulation of pet food, the working group focus on mechanisms to mandate pet food standards and labelling requirements in Australia. In particular, it should give serious consideration to amending the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991 to expand the responsibilities of Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) to include pet food standards and labelling