Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Country of Origin) Bill 2016. Country-of-origin labelling is an issue that has vexed successive governments for many years. Country-of-origin labelling has been compulsory in Australia for many years, but consumers have often found the information unclear, confusing or, in some cases, misleading. Australians want clearer, more meaningful and easier to find country-of-origin information so they can make more informed choices when purchasing food and other products.

These sound like simple goals, but implementing a system that meets those objectives is complex and challenging. But the coalition is determined to make progress on this issue and, in July last year, we announced a new country-of-origin labelling scheme. Under the new system, food labels will carry a statement about where the food was produced, grown, made or packaged. Most Australian food will carry the familiar kangaroo symbol and an indication of the proportion of Australian ingredients by weight through a statement and a bar graph. This is a key piece of information that consumers want. Many consumers find it very frustrating when they are confronted with labels like 'Made in Australia from local and imported ingredients'. That does not say which ingredients are imported, which ingredients are Australian and in what proportion. The new system will also have clearer rules around claims that a product was 'Made in' or 'Packed in' Australia.

It has been a long road to get to this point. We want a system that gives consumers more information without imposing a whole new set of regulations and red tape on our food producers. We believe we have the balance about right, and the bill before the House today is another step to fine-tuning the system to ensure that it is easy to understand for consumers and businesses.

The bill before the House today amends the Australian Consumer Law to clarify the test used to justify a claim that a particular product is made in Australia or another country. In effect, this bill makes it easier for producers and consumers to determine whether a product may legitimately be labelled as 'Grown in Australia', 'Produced in Australia' or 'Made in Australia'. The bill also clarifies the definition of 'substantially transformed'. This is important because it clarifies that minor processing activities like packaging should not be considered substantial transformation. A producer can claim that goods are made or manufactured in a particular country, if they were substantially transformed in that country. As an example, a producer will not be able to import all the ingredients for a product in bulk, chop them up and put them into individual packages in Australia, and then market the product as 'Made in Australia'.

The bill also removes the 50 per cent production-cost test, which was the source of considerable concern for many industry stakeholders. It was seen as an unnecessary burden on businesses and provided very little information to consumers. Removing the 50 per cent production-cost test is expected to save Australian businesses around $48.5 million per year in reduced red tape. As you would expect, the bill has received support from industry. The Australian Food and Grocery Council said it 'supports the urgent passage of the bill to provide certainty for industry'.

In conclusion, the new country-of-origin labelling scheme will be fully implemented over the coming years. It will provide Australian consumers with clearer, more meaningful, easier-to-find information on the origin of products sold in Australia. My electorate is home to a growing horticulture industry with a high range of quality produce, including blueberries, bananas, tomatoes, cucumbers and avocados. Of course, we are also home to excellent milk and dairy products, quality beef and goat meat, and excellent seafood. I have no doubt that produce from the New South Wales mid-North Coast is as good as any produce around the world.

I know that Australian consumers want to buy clean, green, Australian produce and like that it is produced in their local electorate. But consumers need clear, easily accessed information to know that they are buying Australian produce and not some vague mix of local and imported ingredients. I strongly support the new country-of-origin labelling system, and I commend the bill to the House.

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