12. SUE KEDGLEY (Green) Link to this
to the Minister for Food Safety
Does she have any concerns about the safety of food imported from China, given a report earlier this year by the Asian Development Bank and World Health Organization which concluded that “Unsafe food in the People’s Republic of China remains a serious threat to public health.”; if not, why not?
Hon ANNETTE KING (Minister for Food Safety) Link to this
Unsafe food is an important public health issue around the world. I am advised that the Chinese Government is taking that issue seriously within its own country. In relation to Chinese food imported into New Zealand, I am advised that New Zealand has systems in place to ensure that the food for sale in New Zealand, regardless of where it is from, is required to meet safety and suitability standards. We will always take food safety issues seriously, which is why we have a world-leading New Zealand Food Safety Authority.
Is the Minister aware of another report, released a few weeks ago by a Chinese authority, that revealed that nearly a fifth of the food and other consumer products checked in China were found to be substandard or tainted with formaldehyde, illegal dyes, excessive preservatives, and additives; and is she aware of other reports that have found examples of farmed fish fattened on birth control pills, kids’ snacks laced with hormones, seafood contaminated with DDT, tomatoes contaminated with the banned pesticide Lindane, and pigs fed asthma medication in order to produce leaner and redder meat; if so, how can she guarantee that similarly contaminated products are not on sale in New Zealand?
I am aware of a number of reports coming out of China regarding food safety. I am also aware that the World Health Organization has said that it has not singled out China as being of particular concern over food safety. It is a problem in rich and poor countries, and—I ask you to listen to this, Madam Speaker—“must be tackled through better regulation”. I would also like to inform the House that none of the New Zealand Food Safety Authority’s range of testing programmes to date has found any serious issues with regard to levels of residue in food imported into New Zealand from China. The authority’s testing and surveillance programmes show that produce available within New Zealand, both imported and domestically produced, has extremely low levels of chemical residues.
Barbara StewartDoes the Minister still consider it unnecessary for the country of origin to be displayed on food labels, as without that information New Zealand consumers are effectively denied their right to make informed choices about the food they buy?
Perhaps I could remind the member that in 2006 the Consumer’s Right to Know (Food Information) Bill came to this House. It was voted against by 99 members of this House, with 20 voting for the bill, because people in this House know that putting a label on a product and saying that it may come from somewhere does not necessarily tell us what is in that product. It could have a number of ingredients. Some could have come from one country, and some could have come from another. It may be a product of, or made, somewhere else. In fact, that label does not give the information that consumers seek. The best way for consumers to know what is in their food is to ensure, first of all, that they buy Kiwi-made products.
Is she aware that testing of Chinese food at American ports found pesticide-laden pea pods, drug-laced catfish, filthy plums, and farmed seafood contaminated with carcinogenic compounds, and that, as a result, the Americans are turning away several hundred shipments a month and are putting very serious restrictions on farmed seafood; will the Minister agree, therefore, to follow the Americans and impose stricter testing—indeed, will she agree to random testing—on all food imports from China, to reassure the public that the food they buy in New Zealand that comes from China is safe?
I am confident that, with the work carried out by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority, food coming into New Zealand is safe. The Food Safety Authority has strong links with its international counterparts, and remains on the alert for issues that may impact on New Zealand. In cases where there have been incidents overseas, the authority’s relationship with its international counterparts has given it no cause to suspect that the affected foods have been sold in New Zealand.
How can she be confident that the 23,000 tonnes of food imported from China into New Zealand last year were safe, when the Food Safety Authority refuses to conduct even random testing; and why should New Zealanders not be entitled to know whether these imported prawns are from China or from some other part of the world, particularly when they are exactly the same prawns that the Americans have found to be laced with carcinogenic compounds; if her Government refuses to take precautions to assure New Zealanders that they are safe, should we not at least have mandatory country-of-origin labelling, so that we can avoid these products if we so choose?
Since 1963 the Codex Alimentarius Commission set up by the World Health Organization and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations has developed food standards and codes of practice to protect health worldwide. We follow those standards in New Zealand. We make sure that we do have safe food in this country. The scaremongering from that member—who consistently gets her facts wrong, who consistently says that we bring in a certain tonnage of food from China, only to have to correct her press statements later—is not doing any good in New Zealand. I find that it is more to do with China than it is to do with the foods that are coming in.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. I specifically asked whether people had a right to know whether their prawns came from China or from some other country.
Madam SPEAKER
Hon Dr Michael Cullen Link to this
Does the Minister have any concerns about the safety of dietary supplements imported from China; if so, what are those concerns, and has she received any approaches from Sue Kedgley on those matters?
In respect of the last part of that question, as far as I can remember Sue Kedgley has never made any representations to me on complementary medicines coming in from China. She has not made any representations in terms of whether they are contaminated. I believe that a rather double standard is being applied here, whereby Sue Kedgley would like every piece of food in New Zealand to be tested but does not ask for the same when it comes to dietary supplements.
I seek leave to table a number of documents. The first document is a submission that I made on the Therapeutic Products and Medicines Bill—
There is objection. I remind the member to just identify the document. You said it was your submission—that identified it. You do not read out what is in the document. The next document, please.
I have another document here from Greenpeace, which found that 70 percent of tomatoes were laced with—
I have a report here from the World Health Organization that states that unsafe food from China remains a serious threat.
I have another one here, which is a report showing that soy sauce was bulked up with arsenic-tainted—
Hon Mark GoscheI seek leave to table a transcript of a Sunday programme, which identified Chinese herbal remedies sold in my electorate that contained diuretics and steroids.