Greens call for stronger country-of-origin labelling
Australian Greens Deputy Leader Christine Milne has called for more stringent and accurate labelling for locally produced and processed food, based on a strong response in the latest Roy Morgan poll on food labelling.
“The poll results released this week show 90 percent of Australians are more likely to buy food that is labelled as ‘Made in Australia,” she said.
“At face value, this groundswell of support for local food is encouraging, but as our struggling producers know, it is also a bitter pill because our food labelling laws allow for imported goods to be branded as Australian made.
“Current laws stipulate a food product need only have half of its production costs originate in Australia to qualify for the Australian Made brand. These costs include packaging, so it is not uncommon for supermarket shelves to be stocked with overseas grown food packed in Australia and misleadingly labelled.
“This not only dupes the well-intentioned consumer, but also short-changes the local producer who is being consistently undercut by cheap and inferior imports masquerading as Aussie made.
“This is already creating huge problems for Tasmanian farmers and the Australian made brand.
“The Roy Morgan poll clearly indicates that there is a very strong market for home grown and home made food, but if the brand becomes widely known as a disingenuous marketing ploy then it will lose much of its effectiveness.
“Conversely, the poll also indicates just six percent of respondents would actively purchase a Chinese made product if given a choice. Imagine the impact on the ‘Australian Made’ market if seemingly local ingredients are found to have arrived on a boat from China. It’s marketing suicide prevented only by a slight of hand.
“With truthful labelling local growers and producers will benefit from filling the gap usually reserved for imported goods, and they will also experience increased demand.
“This is made all the more pertinent considering Australia’s recent move into becoming a net importer of food. Our trade position has dropped a staggering $6.3 billion in just five years, revealing the urgent need for a fully implemented food security plan.
“Local producers, the economy and future generations are all dependent on truth in labelling. The government must act before the bubble bursts and Australian farmers are forced to leave the land and make overseas food the only option for consumers.”
Christine raises a good point here, others have done so in the past but has fallen on deaf ears. There are many 100% Australian made products to be found at http://www.BuyAustralianMade.com.au . BuyAustralianMade.com.au exclusively promotes Australian manufacturing to shoppers and other businesses.
The Australian Made, Australian Grown Campaign (AMAG) is pleased that the Greens are supporting Australian producers and manufacturers. However Sen Milne’s comments are not entirely accurate. Under the Trade Practices Act, a product may only claim to be ‘Australian Made’ if it meets two tests:
• the product must be ‘substantially transformed’ in Australia; and
• at least 50% of the cost of production must be incurred in Australia.
Substantial transformation is defined in the TPA as “a fundamental change in that country in form, appearance or nature such that the goods existing after the change are new and different goods from those existing before the change”.
Food which is simply packaged in Australia cannot be described as Australian Made because it does not meet the substantial transformation test. Nor does juice reconstituted in Australia from imported concentrate.
AMAG supports more stringent guidelines for substantial transformation in relation to food products.
The Australian public are being deceived because of our poor labelling rules. It must be changed to reflect WHERE the actual food/produce is from i.e. product of Australia, or Product of China. Many don’t have the time to check the labels properly, the country of origin and ingredients is usually very hard to find and very small print. The Government must get off their butts and do something about this before it is too late. We must support Australian produce/manufacturing etc. The future can only be downhill otherwise. And labelling improvements is the first port of call to allow consumers the information they rightly deserve.
I would like to see how this survey was structured and believe that the results from such studies can themselves be misleading. From experience I believe that while most consumers would prefer to buy Australian, they will predominately choose the product what they percieve is the best value for money.
Working in a supermarket full time I directly see these products everyday. More and more are coming in packaged by trusted brands.
eg: Heinz spinach
McCains stir fry vegetables
Many Home brand products
Not all these products are the cheapest either!
More needs to be put out to the public to realise that they are being deceived
Country of origin needs to be put on shelf labels and products
We need to tell as many people as possible
Get it on the news and make it happen