Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) welcomes the introduction of the Australian Standard for Olive and Olive Pomace Oils in 2011 which clearly defines the grade, content and quality of olive oil products and establishes labelling and packaging requirements;

(2) notes the findings of an analysis conducted recently by the Australian Olive Association which revealed that a significant number of imported olive oils in particular, still fail to comply with this national standard;

(3) recognises that misleading labelling practices present considerable challenges for the commercial viability of our domestic olive oil industry, lead to low levels of consumer confidence in olive oil products and prevent consumers from making informed choices about the products they consume, and which may have adverse consequences, including on their health;

(4) welcomes the news that some retailers intend to phase in the voluntary national standard in light of the recent findings, and calls on these retailers to do so in a timely and rigorous manner; and

(5) urges all retailers in Australia to adopt and enforce the Australian Standard for Olive and Olive Pomace Oils so that consumers can make informed purchasing choices, and so that producers of accurately labelled olive oils benefit from a level playing field.

I am very pleased to move this motion to highlight some of the ongoing challenges faced by our domestic olive oil industry and some challenges faced by the Australian consumers of olive oil products.

I have previously spoken in the House about some of these challenges facing our olive oil industry and, in particular, facing the olive growers and olive oil producers that make a wonderful product on the Fleurieu Peninsula, which includes a portion of my own electorate. In 2009 I raised the concerning lack of transparency in the labelling of olive oil products and the consequences for industry competition and consumer protection. I have advocated for the development of clear guidelines to differentiate between various qualities of olive oil and to ensure accuracy and clarity in the labelling of olive oil products.

Since that time, I am very pleased that Standards Australia has introduced an Australian standard for olive and olive-pomace oils which clearly defines the grade, content and quality of olive oil products and establishes labelling and packaging requirements. I understand that Standards Australia received almost 800 submissions throughout the drafting of the standard and that there was strong support from both consumers and stakeholders such as olive oil producers to introduce a standard to effectively address the issues facing the industry.

I welcome the standard, which was introduced in 2011 and defines a number of important areas: (1) clearly outlining different grades of olive oil, whether fresh or refined; (2) unambiguously defining what constitutes extra virgin olive oil, including the most current and effective testing methods for quality and authenticity; (3) providing a technical basis for the 'best before' claims; (4) providing labelling requirements to minimise consumer confusion; (5) cracking down on the misuse of words such as premium, super, pure, light/lite; (6) requiring substantiation of words describing country/region of origin; (7) requiring substantiation of processing methods such as cold pressed and first extraction; and (8) accommodating the natural variations that occur in different countries, olive varieties and regions, without compromising the ability to test and verify quality.

This motion notes the findings of an analysis conducted recently by the Australian Olive Association which revealed that a significant number of imported olive oils in particular still fail to comply with this national standard. Unfortunately, a number of studies have shown that olive oil products on the shelves of our supermarkets have been, and continue to be, deceiving consumers. A recently completed survey of Australian supermarket oils from 2008 to 2011, conducted by the Australian Olive Association as part of a research project funded by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, revealed that over 52 per cent of oil labelled as extra virgin was found to be of a lower grade than extra virgin, as a consequence of either adulteration with refined oils, poor quality of the initial product and/or being too old or poorly stored. As a part of the survey, the Australian Olive Association analysed 30 olive oils against the new standard and revealed that, of the 22 purportedly 'extra virgin' olive oils, seven out of seven imported varieties failed to comply with the standard due to factors such as rancidity, mildew and incorrect labelling. These findings are particularly concerning.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, as well as the consumer group CHOICE, having also investigated different brands of olive oils, have found that many do not live up to what they purport to be. This motion recognises that misleading labelling practices present considerable challenges for the commercial viability of our domestic olive oil industry, given that those Australian growers and producers who are doing the right thing, who are meeting the standard and who are labelling correctly have to unfairly compete with those olive oils that are not complying with the standard.

The motion before us also recognises that misleading practices lead to a lower level of consumer confidence in olive oil products and prevent consumers from making informed choices about the products they consume, which can have adverse consequences for consumers, including for their health. The Australian Olive Association has noted that practices such as cutting higher quality oils such as extra virgin olive oil with lower quality and less expensive oils such as sunflower and canola oil are rife, particularly in imported products, and that this puts significant pressure on those Australian growers and producers who are doing the right thing but are having to compete on the supermarket shelves against imported products which are not complying.

Indeed, domestic olive growers and olive oil producers are forced to struggle in an environment where the retail price of olive oils has been slashed which is, in part, attributable to the importation of some products which are significantly cheaper because they do not contain the right standard of oil, but rather contain other oils such as cooking oils. Indeed, in one instance—and I think this is very concerning—it was exposed that one of these products contained refined lamp oil. For consumers it is particularly concerning that, when they are buying a product that seems cheap and is labelled extra virgin olive oil or a specific olive oil, it is shown to have been mixed with lamp oil.

In addition, the Australian Olive Association has raised concerns about the continuing use of deceptive terms, such as 'light', which have connotations of being healthier when in reality they are actually only light on beneficial things like antioxidants and can contain trans fatty acids that are not present in natural extra virgin olive oils. There has been significant evidence to attest to the fact that natural extra virgin olive oils do have health benefits, such as in relation to heart health, that are not present in refined olive oils. Indeed, the Australian Olive Association has said that almost all natural antioxidants and vitamins are lost during the refining process to create lower grade olive oils commonly labelled as 'light' or 'pure'. I would say that this is something the average consumer is not aware of. Most of us see terms like 'light' on an olive oil product in the supermarket and think we are making a positive choice for our health, but we have now heard this is not necessarily the case. I have spoken in this chamber many, many times about the importance of correct and accurate labelling so that consumers can make the choice. It would seem from the findings of surveys such as the one recently conducted by the Australian Olive Association that it continues to be extremely difficult for many Australian consumers to make informed choices about the products they purchase.

This motion welcomes the news that some retailers intend to phase in the voluntary national standard in light of the recent findings and calls on these retailers to do so in a timely and rigorous manner. I must commend these retailers. It is really important that retailers have this standard for olive oil, but only some retailers are doing so. I take this opportunity to urge all retailers in Australia to adopt and enforce the Australian Standard for Olive and Olive-Pomace Oils so that consumers, no matter which retailer they walk into, know there is an olive oil standard and can make informed purchasing choices in the knowledge that what they pick up meets that standard.

We should note that olive oil is becoming increasingly popular. Australian consumption of olive oil has risen from about 30,000 tonnes to more than 40,000 tonnes in the past decade, and Australian growers supply about a quarter of that. Olive oil is a commonly used product by Australian consumers and it also constitutes an important part of primary production in our country. It is not good enough that we continue to have a situation whereby dishonest or improper labelling of olive oil products is occurring on our supermarket shelves. As I said, I encourage all retailers to adopt this standard. It is important that this standard be enforced, and that is where we must turn our attention. Once retailers have seen the importance of adopting this—and I am sure they will, as a number have already done so—we must enforce this standard effectively so that olive oil producers can have a level playing field for selling their products and Australian consumers are protected from confusing labelling practices and from misleading information, and honest growers and producers are not disadvantaged. I commend this motion to the House.

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