Kapit's 260 Food Operators Face Dramatic Increase in Costs Due to New Government Regulations.

Statement by Cr K Gurunathan January 25 2016

New regulations under the Food Act 2014, scheduled to take effect in March, is likely to dramatically increase costs for Kapiti's 260 registered food businesses. Left unchanged, it will also increase council costs to manage food operators under the new regime. Worse, the complexity of the regulations means the likelihood council costs will end up being passed on to the food operators.

This will lead to businesses blaming council.

Caught as the proverbial meat-in-the-sandwich (between the Ministry for Primary Industries' new regulations and the district's 260 registered food businesses ) KCDC will end up the public whipping boy.

The complex templates that the Ministry has designed for operators to negotiate is a nightmare for council staff let alone the operators. I'm sure Otaki MP and Minister for Primary Industries, Mr Nathan Guy, would be very concerned about the negative effects of the regulatory process on small businesses in Kapiti and elsewhere in the country.

I'm particularly concerned about the impact of these regulations on local food operators for whom English is, at best, a second language. I have frequently raised this question with relevant council staff and I'm pleased to note that staff have done an excellent job in targeting this particularly vulnerable sector through workshops explaining the requirements of the new Act. This is further reflected in KCDC's analysis and robust submission on the new regulations to the Ministry. It was submitted late last year. The submission stresses the "major concerns" council has had about operators with language problems and adds that these concerns are now compounded by the sheer volume of information and documentation for these versions of the food control plan.

The submission rightly points out that these operators make up a significant portion of the takeaway food service sector. They are largely family businesses that often do not employ staff and will not be able to cope with the food control plans or with the time taken to conduct an audit given the complex reading and writing requirements.

While the plight of these vulnerable businesses is highlighted the food plans are so complex and confusing that all operators will be plagued by repeat audits and escalating costs. Operators will either be forced to meet the expense of hiring private expertise or become dependent on council staff which will be an impost on council ratepayers. If a user-pay system is imposed by council, the fees for operating food businesses will increase dramatically and council will be blamed for a financial burden caused by government regulations.

ENDS

(Note: The KCDC submission highlighting the impact of the new regulations on operators with poor command of English is supported by the NZ Federation of Multicultural Councils.

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