Changes to Australia’s new Country of Origin Labelling laws
The Australian government has amended Australia’s new Country of Origin Labelling laws just months after they came into operation.
The amendment, from November 2016, changes the label requirements for priority foods that are packed in Australia.
If these foods are grown, produced or made in a single overseas country, this must now be stated on their label. Previously, this was only required if the product contained no Australian ingredients.
Such goods are also now exempt from “varying Australian content” labelling, which requires certain products to provide batch-by-batch information to consumers of the Australian content of individual batches of product upon request.
FoodLegal Online training available
The changes resulting from the amendment have been incorporated into FoodLegal’s online video training series on the new Country of Origin Labelling scheme (previous users have been updated on the precise changes).
The series of eight modules is designed to assist businesses make the transition to the new system, which came into effect on 1 July 2016. It addresses the complexities of the system, including whether a food is a “priority food”, the meaning of “substantial transformation”, and changes to the definition of “Made in Australia”.
Watch the first video module by clicking here.
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