“Australia is moving so solidly in one direction and we are told the Government is working hard to bring New Zealand in line with various regulatory requirements in Australia, but the New Zealand Government has made it clear it believes a change to mandatory country of origin labelling, like Australia’s, is too much of a threat to free trade agreements,” she told Fresh Plaza. “It must change eventually though, because consumers in New Zealand are demanding this kind of information, so they can make informed choices about what they buy. Consumers are discussing it. I see comments from people on facebook every day demanding this, and it’s also just common sense.”
“It makes no sense for New Zealand’s Government to consistently talk about aligning us with all kinds of Australian regulations, to be more cost-effective and efficient, but then it lets Australia move further and further ahead on mandatory country of origin labeling.”
Ms Catley told Fresh Plaza that all of New Zealand’s other major trading partners already have mandatory country of origin labeling, and New Zealand has just continued to leave its own food producers “at a competitive disadvantage in their own country”.“All it’s really about is giving consumers a choice,” she said. “It’s not about putting a detailed analysis on every can. It’s saying to manufacturers ‘we want you to think before you put your product in a can, and represent that to the customer as accurately as possible.”
When asked about recent criticism of the Australian labeling changes, and the logo, Ms Catley said it was much better than having nothing at all to represent the country of origin. “I agree with the recent statements issued by Ausveg for Australian consumers. An imperfect start is still a start.”
In a press release sent to industry, Ausveg CEO Richard Mulcahy acknowledged that Australia’s country of origin labelling was still incomplete, but he said Ausveg would still support New Zealand taking a similar step to ensure the labelling worked effectively for produce imported from New Zealand into Australia. “Given concerns we hold in relation to food of dubious origins being imported into New Zealand before being repackaged and labelled ‘made in New Zealand from local and imported ingredients’ and sent here, we would back any system which provides Australian consumers with more information about imported food products from New Zealand.”
For more information
Visit the Country of Origin Labelling New Zealand website: www.cool.org.nz