Aimed at legal practitioners and in-house lawyers involved in the FMCG sector concerned with protecting consumer health, NZ’s image and iconic products, this programme cuts through the latest legal and legislative developments in NZ food law that you will encounter in practice. You will receive timely insights on the legal framework around vegetarian replacement products, the emergence of class actions associated with food labelling and protecting and managing IP.

Presenters

Mr. Hamish Selby, Partner, Buddle Findlay
Hamish is a partner at Buddle Findlay, who specialises in intellectual property and leads the Buddle Findlay IP team. He has practised for over 20 years experience and has extensive experience advising clients in New Zealand, Australia, the Pacific Islands and overseas. Hamish advises clients about all aspects of IP, including creation, development, protection, commercialisation, enforcement and management, including copyright, trade marks, registered designs, patents and domain names. He acts in non-contentious, contentious and transactional IP matters. Hamish is privileged to act for some of the world's largest multi-national companies, large New Zealand companies, small-medium sized companies and local and central government clients as well as start-up/early stage businesses, who all entrust their IP rights with him. He is also proud to provide pro bono advice to a well-known international and local not-for profit businesses. Hamish acts for many food and beverage clients and provides IP advice to these clients, including in New Zealand, Australia and key export markets. In recognition of his expertise, Hamish is ranked in international legal directories, including Legal 500, World Trade Mark Review and Chambers and Partners. Hamish is also affiliated with a number of IP organisations, including IPSANZ (where he is a member and sits on the New Zealand executive committee), INTA (where he is a member and is on an Asia Pacific IP Office Practice subcommittee) and NZIPA. Hamish has a LLB and BSC (Biochemistry) from the University of Otago.


Ciska de Rijk, Principal, Essence Compliance
Ciska de Rijk runs her own consultancy, Essence Compliance, advising companies on the maze of laws that govern the food and beverage space. Prior to setting up her own business Ciska worked for top-tier commercial law firms across ANZ. Ciska has developed a particular focus on all aspects of sales and marketing together with food law, including advice on composition, labelling and advertising of food and beverages. Ciska is uniquely placed in that she has both a science and law degree, has worked in-house within a number of multi-national food companies, and has practiced law in both New Zealand and Australia. She now provides specific legal compliance advice in the food and beverage space across both these jurisdictions.


Sarah Lee, Senior Associate , Simpson Grierson
Sarah advises both local subsidiaries of multi-nationals and locally grown medium to large sized businesses from all sectors, including manufacturers, bioscience companies, distributors and retailers. Sarah has particular expertise in food and therapeutic products law, sales and marketing, consumer and fair trading laws. In working with the firm’s national and international food and beverage companies, her practical advice addresses a range of issues including food safety, product standards, packaging and labelling, recall procedures and regulatory approvals. Sarah is also uniquely experienced in advising global direct selling businesses in respect of their regulatory and compliance obligations relating to establishment and operations in New Zealand.


Sarah Brougham, Associate, Bell Gully
Sarah is an Associate in Bell Gully’s consumer law team, specialising in advertising, food law and privacy. She regularly assists clients on a wide range of food law issues, including regulatory compliance, product formulation, packaging and labelling queries under the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) Code, the Food Act and related regulations. She also regularly advices on all aspects of marketing and advertising, including the impacts of the Far Trading Act, Advertising Standards Codes and Privacy Act.


Elena Szentiványi, Director, Henry Hughes IP Limited
Elena Szentiványi is a Director of Henry Hughes IP Ltd and Henry Hughes Law Limited with over 20 years' experience working with local and global businesses in the development, establishment, management, exploitation and enforcement of intellectual property rights, specialising in trade marks and domain names. Elena qualified by examination as a Trade Mark Attorney in Australia in 2009. She is also registered as a Patent Attorney in New Zealand and Australia. Clients represented by Elena operate in a range of industries, and include pharmaceutical, fast-moving consumer goods, food products, cosmetics, sporting, fashion, IT, financial, entertainment, wine and hospitality industries. Elena is a Fellow of the New Zealand Intellectual Property Attorneys (NZIPA) and in November 2009 joined the NZIPA Council. Elena is currently serving as the president of the NZIPA Council. Elena is also a member of the International Trade Mark Association (INTA), Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand (IPSANZ), Asian Patent Attorney Association (APAA), New Zealand Law Society (NZLS) and Wellington Women Lawyers' Association (WWLA). Elena contributes to the formation of practice in New Zealand by participating in the IPONZ convened Hearings Technical Focus Group and in Australia by participating in the IP Australia Trade Marks and Designs Consultation Group. Elena has presented on aspects of Intellectual Property Law to local businesses, law firms, accountancy firms and design students and writes about trade mark issues for industry publications. Elena is a co-author of the trade mark section of the Lexis Practical Guidance, Intellectual Property module. Elena has been selected for inclusion in the World Trademark Review 1000 (WTR 1000), a publication featuring tiered rankings of the leading trade mark practitioners and firms around the world. Elena is described in the 2019 edition as having been an influential voice on the New Zealand trade mark scene for over 20 years. "Extremely capable, she gives solid advice and is a safe pair of hands, she really fights hard for her clients' best interests." In the 2022 edition Elena was commended for "her deep knowledge of trademark law" and for tackling enforcement matters quickly and discreetly Since 2017 Elena has been a supporter of Coralus (formerly SheEO) - a global community of radically generous women transforming the way to finance, support and celebrate female entrepreneurs who are working on the world’s to-do list (UN Sustainable Development Goals).