Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Imported Food Control Amendment (Country of Origin) Bill 2017. I acknowledge the fact that the member for Lyons said mine wasn't a country seat, but we do have consumers and food importers in my electorate and plenty of people interested in food labelling. It's not just the country regions that are interested in it; there are many of us city slickers who are also keen to understand where our food comes from. It's the Australian way, because we're such a multicultural society, to ask a bloke walking down the street or someone you've met somewhere: 'What's your origin?' I guess it's for the same reason that we want to know what food we're eating and what its origin is as well.

I want to talk about the previous member's claim that Labor is the party for the regions. I'll remind him of the Gunns woodchip factory that was shut down in Tasmania and the impact that Labor also had on live exports, shutting them down overnight. That was very friendly to farmers! Deputy Speaker Hastie, I know you're a strong supporter of regional areas and agricultural business. I know that the fruit in Canning—Carmel, Karragullen and Pickering Brook—is exceptional this year and is not only going to be consumed in Australia but probably exported, so you should be proud of the people who produce in your electorate as well.

As I said, while I'm a metropolitan member, the measures contained in this bill are important to many of my constituents for two reasons: it either affects their grocery shop as they seek to buy Australian products, or it may mean a few changes for their businesses. All of the constituents who have contacted my office have been very supportive of any change that allows for an easier and clearer way to distinguish Australian products, as many of them want to ensure they support our farmers and regional Australians. And as the member for Lyons leaves the chamber, I'd like to ask that he carry his campaign for the labelling of food on restaurant menus upstairs to the dining room here as well. It's would be nice to know what we're eating off the buffet. I'll expect a result from him next sitting!

Last year, the federal member for Cowper, in his role as assistant minister to the Deputy Prime Minister, joined me to visit a local grocer in Como to talk about the incoming changes relating to country-of-origin labelling. The local grocer in Como is the IGA that is located on Preston Street. Pierre runs this local grocery and consistently champions fresh local produce. After coming to Australia with his family, he's continued to run a very successful local business and is determined to support local Aussie produce. Pierre's supermarket is located right in the heart of the suburb of Como, hundreds if not thousands of kilometres away from where much of our Aussie produce is coming from. Pierre is a strong supporter of our government's changes to the country-of-origin labelling, working with many of the suppliers to ensure they are up to date with recent changes. It's a wonderful supermarket, and Pierre has taken steps to ensure that a large amount of the produce he stocks now follows the new country-of-origin labelling. The community has responded very positively to these changes, and Pierre noted that he has had new customers visiting the store instead of going to the bigger supermarkets. Instead, they prefer to visit his family owned business and support Aussie produce and Aussie business.

During our visit, Assistant Minister Hartsuyker and I had many members of the community speak to us about the clarity and ease these reforms have created in ensuring they can support Aussie produce. We were even approached by a local business owner who is eager to go on the front foot with these reforms in his own business. He was an importer of food, and we gave him relevant links and information. The visit was well received, and I'd like to thank Pierre for allowing us to speak to his customers about the reforms that this government has undertaken, and to visit his shop, which, I must add, is always well presented with massive amounts of fresh fruit and vegetables in colour order. I thank the minister for visiting and working to ensure that these reforms are well implemented.

This bill seeks to reform the country-of-origin labelling for food in Australia to ensure the country-of-origin labelling is enforced in Australia so consumers know whether their products are truly Australian made or just imported. These reforms to our country-of-origin labelling were introduced by the Turnbull government in 2016, to be fully implemented on 1 July this year. This bill is required as country-of-origin labelling will cease to be enforceable under the current arrangements in the Imported Food Control Act 1992. Under these reforms, country-of-origin labelling for food will be regulated under a new compulsory information standard under Australian Consumer Law, rather than the current arrangement that is through the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. There is minimal impact on food imported into Australia with these changes.

Food importers can access the requirements for country-of-origin labelling in the Country of Origin Food Labelling Information Standard 2016, which is a result of extensive consumer research and a comprehensive regulation impact statement, including a detailed cost-benefit analysis informed by the consultation. Ian Macfarlane, the former member for Groom, was heavily involved in this at the outset when the consultation was taking place.

Country-of-origin labelling will still be required on imported products, for example 'Product of Thailand' or 'Made in Canada', and would need to meet the new rules around 'made in' and 'packed in' claims that result from these changes. For priority foods, importers are required to make their country-of-origin claim in a box on the label, so it can be easily found by consumers. Under these changes, food importers are not allowed to use the kangaroo symbol, as their product is not of Australian origin. If businesses want to indicate the presence of Australian ingredients in an imported food, they can use a label that also includes a bar chart and text about the proportion of Australian ingredients.

This bill is required as the current arrangement with the country-of-origin labelling will cease to be enforceable under the current legislation when the requirements are taken out of the Food Standards Code at the start of July this year. This bill will ensure that the new country-of origin-requirements under the new Country of Origin Food Labelling Information Standard 2016 can be enforced under the Imported Food Control Act 1992. This means that authorised officers of the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources can maintain legislative authority to enforce country-of-origin labelling for imported food at the first entry point in our country, our borders.

While this legislation will alter the legislative framework, it will have no practical effect on food importers, consumers, or the regulatory environment—it is to ensure that this framework exists to allow enforceability by the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources. The role of government is to ensure that regulatory regimes are not oppressive and are conducive to supporting our businesses. This government supports this notion, and, as such, this legislation has resulted from significant consumer and stakeholder consultation to ensure the reforms are effective and avoid implementing unnecessary regulation in the sector.

The reforms were also given to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science in the preparation of this proposed legislation. I can assure food importers in my electorate of Swan and those across the nation that there will be no additional costs borne by them as a result of this bill passing. This consultation included our overseas trading partners. In 2016 the federal government notified our trading partners of our intention to reform the country-of-origin labelling. This consultation included referring trading partners to the new requirements in the new country-of-origin food labelling standard that this government introduced in 2016. With further amendments to the Australian Competition and Consumer Act 2010 due to the introduction of the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Country of Origin) Act 2017, we further notified our trading partners in March of last year. The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science has also developed a fact sheet on these changes for our trading partners. It is now available on its website to ensure that these changes are well known.

With this bill the enforcement actions that exist under the Imported Food Control Act 1992 can be taken for imported food that does not meet the requirements set out in the new Country of Origin Food Labelling Information Standard 2016. This is not dissimilar to the ways that other standards in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code are applied now. It gives authorised officers of the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources the powers to hold, re-export or destroy products that do not comply with the applicable standards for that food as a result of inspections carried out under the act. In addition to these enforcement actions, subsequent imports of the same food are inspected for compliance with the Country of Origin Food Labelling Information Standard 2016 until a history of compliance is demonstrated.

As a result of this bill the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources will hold legislated authority for enforcing country-of-origin food labelling for imported food products at the border. In Australia, compliance with the standard will be the responsibility of the Australian Consumer Law regulators. The regulators on the list include the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission, as well as state and territory consumer protection agencies. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection will also have legislative authority to ensure the changes to country-of-origin food labelling for imported food under the Commerce (Trade Descriptions) Act 1905. The Commerce (Trade Descriptions) Act 1905 applies to all imported food, including food imported from New Zealand. The Imported Food Control Act 1992 does not apply to food imported from New Zealand under the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Agreement of 1997.

Food importers in my electorate have contacted my office to voice their support for these changes, but have been curious on how they have access to the information about our government's reforms. The amendments to the Imported Food Control Act 1992 make it clear to importers that they are required to comply with the requirements in the new standards. The text of the bill also includes a note that this information standard is made under section 134 of schedule 2 of the Australian Competition and Consumer Act 2010, which is commonly referred to as the Australian Consumer Law. Food importers can access the new country-of-origin labelling information standard on the Federal Register of Legislation as well is obtaining guidance about the information standard from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission website.

This legislation is not out of the ordinary in the global marketplace now. Most countries mandate some form of country of origin labelling; however, the specific labelling requirements and what imported foods they apply to differ from country to country. This is even the case for many of our biggest trading partners. Under the international food labelling standard, the Codex General Standard for the Labelling of Prepackaged Foods, a country-of-origin statement must be provided on food where consumers would be misled or deceived if they did not have this origin information.

The government's reforms address longstanding consumer confusion and frustration about country-of-origin claims on food products. These reforms will give consumers clearer and more meaningful origin information, allowing them to support their buying preferences. The reforms have been developed with extensive consumer and business consultation. A comprehensive regulation impact statement, including a detailed cost-benefit analysis informed by consultation, underpinned the state and Territory governments' agreement to the changes. This government in 2015 appointed a highly renowned market research agency to take extensive consumer research on the government's proposals. The findings included that almost three-quarters of people, 74 per cent, thought it was important or very important to be able to identify the country of origin of food. This information is far too significant to ignore. It is time to ensure that our labelling standards are improved.

As with many reforms, there will be a review at the end of the transition period, which is two years from now, in 2020-21. The review will cover the scope of the reforms and their effectiveness in meeting their objectives in relation to the community and industry expectations.

This bill is a very simple legislative change and ensures enforcement of these recent changes in relation to country-of-origin labelling, which are sensible reforms that ensure clarity and ease, remove confusion for consumers, and make clear to food importers the expectations of our labelling structure. I'm proud to be a part of this government, a government that has consistently ensured sensible reforms to many of our regulatory reforms in such environments not only to bring them in line with community expectations, as seen through the consultation process, but also to ensure that government regulation is not imposing red tape for the sake of red tape. I see the former minister for deregulation sitting here, and he knows all about red tape, so it's good to see him sitting there and listening to this speech about legislation that's going to have an enormous impact for consumers across Australia.

Australian produce is one of our biggest exports and is a major source of Australia's wealth. Anything we can do to make our products easier to distinguish and find, not only in our local markets but overseas, can be nothing but a good thing. This is an example of how a government and parliamentarians get on with the job of getting out of the way of businesses and focusing on supporting Australian produce. I commend this bill to the House.

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