Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Williams, thank you. The government are working hard to ensure that consumers have access to clear, consistent and easy-to-understand food labelling that will allow them to make more informed choices. Stakeholders across all sectors have been supportive of our food-labelling changes, and are providing constructive feedback on the policy.

Following an extensive consultation phase, a final policy proposal will be considered later this year. Of course, there will be a reasonable phase-in period to give Australian producers time to adjust to new food-labelling requirements. Voluntary adoption of the new food labels will be encouraged ahead of the mandatory start date. We expect that consumers will see changes in their supermarkets sometime next year. People have been asking for simpler food labelling for a long time. This government is determined to deliver better country-of-origin food labelling in the most cost-effective way possible.