Question On Notice No. 3304 asked in the Legislative Council on 11 August 2015 by Hon Lynn Maclaren
Question Directed to the: Parliamentary Secretary representing the Minister for Health
Parliament: 39 Session: 1
Question
With regard to the recent Auditor General's report on pesticide use and management in Western Australia, I ask:
(a) is the Minister aware that the Auditor General's report found residues on some Western Australian produced foods are ten times above acceptable contamination levels and that government agencies are not adequately managing pesticide use in Western Australia;
(b) who carried out the residue test referred to in the Auditor General's report;
(c) where on the Department of Health's (DoH) website are the results of the tests published;
(d) what products were tested and when;
(e) what were the specific chemicals identified in the tests where exceedances were found;
(f) on what basis does the DoH claim that the exceedances pose no risk to consumers;
(g) what action is the DoH taking to reduce the contamination of Western Australian produced foods by pesticides;
(h) does the DoH invest any resources in the promotion of pesticide-free or organically grown produce in Western Australia and, if not, why not; and
(i) what specific action will the Minister take in response to the Auditor General's findings that, "The Department of Health has not adequately followed up these incidents to understand or address the causes." and that "Agencies do not regularly check the management and safe use of pesticides."?
Answered on 15 September 2015
(a) The Auditor General's Report does not state that it found residues on some Western Australian produced foods to be more than ten times above acceptable contamination levels. Rather, it states that 11 per cent of fruit and vegetable samples in the last three Western Australian Food Monitoring Program surveys were found to contain pesticide residues higher than accepted levels. However, these WA surveys specifically target high-risk produce. National Residue Surveys consistently show that pesticide residues of foods produced in WA and exported out of the State are within accepted national levels.
While, the Auditor General's report identified areas for government agencies to refine in the management of pesticide use, it also stated "the agencies are working reasonably well to manage the risk of inappropriate pesticide use in Western Australia".
(b) The Department of Health (DoH) in conjunction with local government undertook the survey, where a range of fruits and vegetables are purchased and tested for a number of predetermined chemicals, based on risk.
The analysis (testing) was done by the ChemCentre.
(c) The results are not on the DoH website.
(d) The products tested in 2009 and 2011 were: apple, asparagus, baby corn, banana, beans, broccoli, cabbage, capsicum, cauliflower, cucumber, garlic, kiwifruit, lemon, lettuce, mandarin, mango, mushroom, nectarine, onion, orange, peach, pear, plum, potato, snow pea, spinach, strawberry, tomato and zucchini.
(e) Bifenthrin, bioresmethrin, chlorpyrifos, cypermethrin, demeton-s-methyl,
a-endosulfan, b-endosulfan, endosulfan sulphate, endrin, iprodione, methiocarb, methamidophos, pendimethalin.
(f) Exceedances are based on assessment of test results against Maximum Residue limits (MRLs) prescribed in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Code) for agricultural and veterinary chemical residues present in food. MRLs are regulatory standards that help monitor whether an agricultural or veterinary chemical has been used as directed on an approved label, and are set well below the level that would be harmful. If an MRL is exceeded it usually indicates a misuse of the chemical but is unlikely to pose a health risk. An exceedance of an MRL is however, a non-compliance with the Code.
(g) The DoH administers the food legislation in WA, but the primary enforcement agency for horticultural products at retail level, is local government. Where DoH becomes aware of pesticide residues in foods, in exceedance of the MRLs outlined in the Code, it notifies the relevant local government of the results for follow up action. The local government investigates the compliance issue with the retailer, undertaking further assessment; including tracing the produce in question back to the supplier/farm. At the farm level, if unsafe chemical residues are found on a property, the Department of Agriculture and Food has powers to take appropriate action.
(h) No. The DoH is a regulatory agency.
(i) The DoH will implement processes to ensure test results that exceed accepted pesticide residue levels are appropriately followed up by local government, and use the findings to identify risks and inform other compliance work.