Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I table the report of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Industry's inquiry into country of origin food labelling, A clearer message for consumers.

There have been a number of inquiries into Australia's food labelling system in the last ten years, even though most, including the extensive Labelling logic Blewett review, have focused on a wide range of issues surrounding food labelling and safety.

When considering an inquiry topic the committee was of the opinion that while other reports had made recommendations in the area of country of origin food labelling, considerable public confusion and frustration remained and that the topic was one which was repeatedly raised by consumers on media such as talkback radio.

Accordingly the committee requested support from the ministers of industry and agriculture to mount a specific inquiry into the issue with an aim of recommending possible modifications which would provide clarification to the general public while at the same time taking great care not to inflict anticompetitive burdens on our food manufacturers and growers.

The committee agreed on 27 March to undertake an inquiry into Australia's country of origin food labelling. During the course of the inquiry the committee received 54 submissions; seven supplementary submissions; held seven public hearings in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra; and spent a day in Adelaide visiting and meeting food manufacturers to gauge their views in the workplace environment.

It became clear very early in the inquiry that the 'safe harbour' descriptors were in some cases not providing any information to the general public as to the origin of food products. While in most cases industries are complying with the law, often using the 'safe harbour' descriptors, the general public do not understand what they mean.

It was made quite clear to the committee that the country of origin of food is not overly important to many and that relevant information is considered less important on heavily processed foods. However, to a significant and important sector of the market, country of origin information is important and clear information should be provided to the consumer.

The committee was of the opinion that any country of origin food labelling regime should not present an impediment to importers and/or provide non-tariff trade protection to our industries, but it should provide clear information to consumers who wish to make an independent choice to support either Australian farmers or food manufacturers.

The committee strongly supports the current labelling system's non-prescriptive manner in the way a food manufacturer or marketer should represent a particular food's country of origin status.

Some examples include front or back of pack labelling, focus on particular regions or specific countries for the origin of selected ingredients and logos or individualised wording. These are all acceptable as long as they provide the minimum information and are not false, misleading or deceptive. Consequently, the committee has limited its suggestions for change to the country of origin labelling system to adjustments to the 'safe harbour' claims.

It is the committee's opinion that none of the recommended changes would have any significant negative impact on Australian producers or manufacturers but that the core recommendations concerning the 'safe harbour' claims will provide common sense information that consumers can understand.

At the heart of the recommendations is that each item should have a separate reference to the ingredients and the manufacture of goods. It keeps the best of what is good with the Australian country of origin statements, provides some specialised language that puts some separation between food and other products in the Australian market and most importantly addresses the confusion surrounding the 'Made in Australia' and 'Made in Australia from local and imported ingredients' descriptors.

The committee would like to express its appreciation to all who have contributed their valuable time and shared their experience with us throughout the course of the inquiry. I, and I hope the rest of my committee, will be pressuring the government to respond in a positive matter to these recommendations and adopt them.

In closing, I would particularly like to thank my committee—my deputy chair, the member for Hotham; and other members in the chamber at the moment: the member for Durack, the member for O'Connor and the member for Indi. I thank them for attending this morning and thank the rest of the members of the committee for their hard work on this inquiry.

I must say that it is one of those experiences of the parliamentary committee system where everybody in the committee was working for a common goal and worked very well and cohesively together. I would especially like to thank the secretariat—in particular, Julia Morris, Anthony Overs and Lauren Wilson, who laboured very hard over these recommendations. (Time expired)

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

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