At Sparrow Foot Farm in Tasmania's Huon Valley, co-owners Ines Santos and David Simmons run a 3-hectare market garden supplying vegetables directly to customers through a box program and farmers' markets. However, proposed food safety standards for leafy greens, berries, and melons have raised concerns among small and medium-sized growers about the sustainability of their operations.
Biosecurity Tasmania is consulting on the new regulations developed by Food Standards Australia and New Zealand after an increase in foodborne illness outbreaks linked to horticultural products. According to Biosecurity Tasmania's product integrity manager Jim Beck, "Between 2011 and 2019, there were a number of outbreaks of salmonella. There were also 10 deaths and 275 reported cases." He added that other viruses, including hepatitis A, had also been found in horticultural products. The new standards aim to align Tasmania with national food safety regulations.
The draft regulations outline an "annual accreditation fee" based on the number of full-time employees, ranging from US$115 to US$495. However, no tiered approach is mentioned for other accreditation and auditing costs, leaving smaller producers uncertain about whether they will be held to the same compliance standards as large-scale commercial farms. "In terms of vegetables going across the country, some of the regulations there make sense," Simmons said. "But in terms of local growers and farms selling direct to their customers, I don't think it makes a lot of sense."
Biosecurity Tasmania said it is "looking at a tiered approach" to make the rules "practical and achievable" for smaller operations, but this is not reflected in the draft under consultation. Simmons said the uncertainty could discourage new growers from entering the industry. "A big concern for me is new growers and farmers getting into producing food, not being able to due to the costs and time considerations that we're now [potentially] going to have to meet," he said. "That doesn't seem fair to an industry that is already quite hard to make a living off."
Sprout Tasmania, a non-profit group representing local producers, expressed concern over the lack of clarity in the draft. Chief executive Jennifer Robinson said, "It just perplexes us somewhat that this really could have been in the draft regulations to start with." She urged Biosecurity Tasmania to revise the draft, noting that "when your livelihood is put at risk foreseeably by something that's out of your control, it can feel quite daunting and pretty overwhelming." Public submissions on the proposed regulations are open until December 5.
Source: ABC News
