. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/N/AUS/15
26 March 2003
(03-1725)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  English
NOTIFICATION
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6.
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   AUSTRALIA
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):           
2. Agency responsible:
Food Standards Australia New Zealand
PO Box 7186Canberra BC   ACT   2610
AUSTRALIA
Fax: (+61) 2 62712278
Email: info@foodstandards.gov.au
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, e-mail and web-site
addresses, if available) of  agency or authority designated to handle comments
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above:           
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [ X], 2.10.1 [    ], 5.6.2 [    ], 5.7.1 [    ], other:           
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):   Foods/Processed Foods
– ‘Sports Foods’
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:   P236 – Review of
Sports Foods - Draft Assessment Report (DAR) (147 pages, English)
6. Description of content:   The Draft Assessment Report for Proposal (P236) proposes to
amend the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Code). Sports foods in
Australia and New Zealand are currently regulated by Standard 2.9.4 – Formulated
Supplementary Sports Foods in the Code.  Sports foods may also be regulated in NewZealand by the New Zealand Dietary Supplements Regulations 1985 (NZDSR).  Many of
these products are available in Australia by virtue of the trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition
Arrangement (TTMRA). During the development of Volume 2 of the Code, Standard R10
in Volume 1 of the Food Standards Code (Volume 1) was transported into Volume 2 as
Standard 2.9.4 without a full review of Australian and New Zealand regulations for sportsfoods.
There are few international regulations governing sports foods and the proposed revised
Standard 2.9.4 would provide more consistency with both the NZDSR and regulations in
other countries.  The proposed compositional permissions and labelling requirements and
permissions are generally less stringent than the current Standard 2.9.4.
The sports food industry is relatively small compared to the general food supply and on a
world scale, the Australian and New Zealand markets are comparatively small.G/TBT/N/AUS/15
Page 2
7. Objective and rationale, including the na ture of urgent problems where applicable:
The proposal examines both compositional and labelling requirements in the context of the
following objectives:
1. Protect public health and safety in relation to the consumption of sports foods, by:
ensuring that these products are safe when consumed by sports people, as intended bythe manufacturers; and ensuring that these products are not otherwise misused by
consumers generally or consumed by vulnerable subgroups of the population such as
children.
2. Provide information to consumers to enable them to make informed choices about the
consumption of sports foods and to prevent misleading conduct.
3. Develop consistent food regulations applying to sports foods between Australia and
New Zealand to provide for fair trade.
The DAR has been prepared to discuss potential solutions to the issues raised in the Initial
Assessment Report and the comments made by submitters to that report.  The DAR aims to
encourage and facilitate further public comment on the regulatory framework proposed as a
workable option for sports foods that meets FSANZ’s objectives.
8. Relevant documents:   Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code
9. Proposed date of adoption:  Recommendation to Government anticipated to be made by
late 2003.  Entry into force dependent on Government approval.
Proposed date of entry into force:  Entry into force dependent on Government approval,
possibly late 2003 or early 2004.
10. Final date for comments:   10 June 2003
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [ X] or address, telephone and fax
numbers, e-mail and web-site addresses, if available of the other body:
also directly available on the Food Standards Australia New Zealand website at
http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/standardsdevelopment/proposals/