On the back of a surge in consumer support for Australian-grown food, Greens senator Christine Milne has approached federal government, industry, farmers and fellow MPs to push proposed reforms in country of origin labelling.
Milne is calling for more transparency in country of origin labelling as she says that current regulation is misleading.
The proposed changes for Country of Origin labelling are as follows:
- ‘Product of’ or ‘Grown in’ – will be used to describe food that has been wholly grown and processed in a country.
- ‘Manufactured in’ – will replace ‘Made in’ for food that has been substantially transformed in a particular country. The term ‘made in’ will no longer be used as many people think that ‘made in’ refers to where the ingredients were grown.
- ‘Packaged in’ – will be used on food that has been highly processed but can’t claim to have either ingredients of significant processing in a particular country. Companies can still choose to highlight the source of significant ingredients if they wish.
In addition to the county of origin labelling changes, Milne is also proposing to introduce regulation that stipulates what kinds of food processing does not qualify as manufacturing, as manufacturing typically involves significant investment in local equipment and jobs.
Fruit and vegetable processor SPC Ardmona recently experienced a spate of consumer support on the back of a social media movement that was started by Newcastle resident, Linda Drummond.
The processor claims to have suffered significantly from confusing regulation surrounding country of origin claims coupled with an increase in cheap imported produce.