Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr President. We are committed to ensuring that food labels are clear, accurate and enable consumers to make informed choices about the food they buy. The government response to the Blewett review of food labelling law and policy reflects the need to improve information about food labels while maintaining market flexibility and minimising barriers to trade and regulatory burden on industry.

So there have been a series of projects which are in progress to implement the government's response to the Blewett review over the next five years. The vast majority of recommendations are currently being implemented. The government has of course prioritised the work on the recommendations that the ministerial forum has agreed on, and good progress is being made on issues like front-of-pack labelling, the finalisation of health claim standards and many others. Food Standards Australia New Zealand has been tasked with the majority of the implementation of the agreed recommendations and began work from December last year.

It is worth bearing in mind that the ministerial forum's response to Blewett was a response by all state and territory governments as well as New Zealand, and in that respect work on the agreed recommendations is not being tasked solely by the Commonwealth government. The forum on food regulation, which is the meeting of all jurisdictions and which I will also be attending, is being held in the next week in Brisbane and will consider the next steps on important issues—