imported food control amendment bill 20xx and imported food control amendment regulations 20xx the australian government is developing amendments to improve the imported food control act 1992 the act and its subordinate legislation. the amendments contained in the notified documents are designed to better protect the health of australian consumers through enabling the australian government to strengthen the management of imported food safety risks while meeting our international trading obligations. copies of the documents are available from the following website www.agriculture.gov.au imported-food-reform-consultation. a previous sps notification on these reforms was provided during the regulatory impact statement phase in august 2016 g sps n aus 394 . currently the act has a strong emphasis on inspecting and where relevant testing food at the border to assess the safety of imported foods. the ability to test food at the border is an important part of a food safety system though it has its limitations when not part of a broader approach to food safety. the amendments seek to strengthen the current risk-based management system by increasing importer accountability and improving responsiveness of food safety risks. it also realigns the act to be more consistent with current international and domestic approaches to food safety while reducing the regulatory burden on compliant importers. the amendments are consistent with the codex alimentarius guidelines for food import control systems and address inconsistencies between australias imported and domestic food legislation. imported food will continue to be required to meet the same food safety standards as food produced in australia. the following outlines the amendments to be made to the act - food safety management certificates recognition of foreign government certification or recognised non-government certificates to improve supply chain assurance of particular foods and reduce at the border inspections. - holding orders minor amendment to ensure a proportionate response is achievable to an imported food safety incident. - classification of food technical amendment to address current limitations when responding to new and emerging food safety risks. it enables the minister to classify foods into particular categories and subjecting these to appropriate rates of inspection proportionate to the risk they impose. - recognition of foreign countrys food safety system allows a foreign countrys food safety system to be recognised where there is equivalence with australias food safety system reducing at the border inspection and testing of imported foods. - enforcement modernises enforcement provisions to be consistent with the regulatory powers standard provisions act 2014 that underpins australias compliance approach and to realign with domestic legislation provisions for food safety. - record keeping a realignment to be more consistent with domestic food safety legislation importers will need to maintain records one ste forward and one ste backwards to improve the traceability of imported food. - making of orders of determinations to allow for holding orders to be targeted to a particular characteristic of a food in order to avoid unnecessary or inappropriate inspection and analysis of other foods. - use and disclosure of information modernises the approach to information to meet australias domestic and international obligations as well as enabling effective and efficient operation of the australian food safety management system. - minor amendments technical amendments to enhance the operation of the act and improve harmonisation with existing commonwealth legislation