Australia and New Zealand have taken steps to tighten up rules for the seafood industry with a host of new food safety regulations just around the corner.

The food safety agency Food Standards Australia New Zealand is due to revise the seafood safety laws, pinpointing critical points in the production and processing of the food, in a bid to provide the consumer with added protection.

FSANZ's General Manager for Food Safety, Greg Roche, said this week that a new national seafood standard would draw on the best of existing state by state approaches and industry initiatives aimed at producing national uniformity for the sector.

"The new seafood standard will be based on international risk management principles which will enable Australia to provide levels of seafood safety equal to the best in the world," said Roche.

"The standard will be mandatory in all states and territories and will apply to the harvesting, processing, handling and storage of seafood, including aquaculture production. It will also apply to imported seafood," he added.

The new national standard is likely to pass into law in mid-2004 and become effective a year later.

"The next milestone in the process will be the release of a Draft Assessment in December, including a draft standard, and a second opportunity for interested parties to comment on the proposed regulations," said Mr Roche.