AU: Time for fresh assault on country of origin labelling
A Weekly Times investigation at 14 fresh food outlets across Melbourne — including the Dandenong, Footscray, Prahran, Preston, Queen Victoria and South Melbourne markets — in the past week has identified 54 breaches of the laws, which stipulate signage that “identifies the country or countries of origin” must accompany the retail sale of fresh food.
Alongside the boxes of unlabelled US cherries, New Zealand apples, Chinese onions and Mexican mangoes were the more alarming cases of Chinese garlic packaged in Australia being sold as Made in Australia at Dandenong, Footscray and Preston markets, Mexican mangoes advertised as “Australian mangoes” at the South Melbourne Market and US cherries being passed off as Product of Australia at Albert Park’s Foodworks supermarket.
These breaches would normally carry stiff penalties but retailers are seemingly getting away with it as the Government sits firmly on its hands on the issue.
Credit where credit is due: the major supermarkets strictly adhere to country of origin labelling laws. It’s many of the smaller, independent retailers that are punching major holes in the system.
Six weeks ago, The Weekly Times exposed a number of stallholders at the Queen Victoria, South Melbourne and Prahran markets who were flouting the laws by not labelling their foreign fruit and vegetables accordingly.
This week there was little to no improvement.
Enforcement of country of origin labelling in this state has long been stuck on a roundabout of blame. Market stallholders often blame market management who blame local government who in turn blame health authorities.
Officially, the Government has handed responsibility for enforcement to already stretched local councils, but as Apple and Pear Australia industry services manager Annie Farrow says “they’re predominantly focused on food safety and significantly less on food labelling”.
Local Government Minister Tim Bull assures us councils “have every power they need to enforce food safety and labelling laws”.
Having power is one thing. Having the adequate resources to deliver it is another. This is where the issue falls squarely back at the feet of the State Government.
The Victorian Farmers Federation has called on the Government to follow the lead of NSW, which takes “labelling seriously” with an enforcement team and “a name and shame file of offenders”.
The name-and-shame file, on the NSW Food Authority website, details more than 1300 penalty notices handed out to retailers skimping on, among other things, country of origin food labelling.
Among them are Sydney businesses Always Greener at Cabramatta, Chase Fruit Shop at Fairfield and Hills Fruit World at Seven Hills, all small businesses fined $440 for not correctly labelling fruit and vegetables with their countries of origin.
Source: heraldsun.com.au
