Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Regional Development and Territories) Share this | Hansard source

I present the explanatory memorandum for this bill and move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Today I'm pleased to introduce the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Australian Consumer Law—Country of Origin Representations) Bill 2020. This bill marks the next step towards implementing the government's commitment to establish robust country of origin labelling laws for Australian made complementary medicines.

The amendment lays the foundation for Australian made complementary medicines to have robust access to a safe harbour Australian origin claim and to the 'Australian Made, Australian Grown' logo—the iconic kangaroo in a triangle symbol.

We are justifiably proud of our vitamin and minerals manufacturers, our "complementary medicines" sector, and the high quality, diverse product range it delivers to growing local and export markets.

The sector made various representations to the government, outlining concerns about the impact of changes to country of origin claims in Australian Consumer Law made by the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Country of Origin) Act 2017.

This 2017 amendment limited the circumstances under which products can meet the definition of 'substantially transformed' in the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, which in turn limited access to the safe harbour provisions that apply to an Australian origin claim.

To address these issues, the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, the Hon Karen Andrews MP, established a task force to review the industry's concerns and identify possible solutions.

This bill has been informed by the task force's extensive consultation with relevant stakeholders including state and territory government agencies, Complementary Medicines Australia, manufacturers within the complementary healthcare sector, industry stakeholders with an interest in 'Made in Australia' claims, consumer organisations and Australian Made Campaign Limited.

Reporting in February 2019, the task force highlighted the importance of origin labelling to the Australian community while also acknowledging the high level of concern from the complementary medicines sector, with the loss of Australian origin labelling.

The report also highlighted the great faith consumers placed in an Australian origin claim.

The research indicated that labels featuring an Australian origin claim, together with a bar chart and a statement indicating the proportion of Australian ingredients, best conveyed this information.

Complementary medicines manufacturers believe the Australian brand, together with our high product safety standards and scrutiny of manufacturing practices by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, are all key to our strong reputation for well-made, safe products.

Following the task force's report, we undertook a public consultation process in October 2019. We sought the views of the public and industry on a number of options to make Australian origin labelling more accessible for complementary medicines.

And finally, we put a reform proposal to the states and territories through the Consumer Affairs Forum.

State and territory ministers representing their consumer affairs portfolios agreed with the Government's proposal to amend the Australian Consumer Law in a two-step process.

That is why in December 2019, as a first step, we restored access to 'Australian Made' claims for complementary medicines manufactured in Australia, by enacting the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Australian-made Complementary Medicines) Regulations 2019. These 2019 regulations were an interim solution.

The ongoing solution we are now preparing to deliver with the passage of this bill is part of the second step the states and territories are supporting us to undertake.

Following passage of the bill, we will make new regulations to prescribe one or more processes in the Australian manufacture of complementary medicines that will meet the definition of 'substantially transformed'. We will also introduce an information standard to govern labelling on complementary medicines when an Australian origin claim is made under these reforms.

The Prime Minister has been very clear in tasking the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology to map the way forward and work, with a whole of government approach, to create the right conditions for Australian manufacturing to grow.

Our export capability is a vital driver for manufacturing. It is difficult to overstate the critical importance of export markets to enabling real growth for our economy.

We are a trading nation, always looking at how to develop and diversify our export markets.

The complementary medicines sector is an important and growing contributor to Australia's economic prosperity through increasing exports. It has a positive reputation, both in Australia and overseas, over a diverse product range.

The industry supports the employment of around 29,000 people, with exports valued at over $1 billion in 2019, up over 15 per cent on 2018.

In the first three months of this year we exported almost $225 million worth of complementary medicines.

It is in the national interest to grow this lucrative sector, and the bill that I am introducing today marks another step on that journey.

In these current challenging times, there has been a groundswell of community support for Australian made products, which is good news for local manufacturers of complementary medicines.

I know businesses are always concerned that, when regulation is introduced, the compliance will be onerous. Regulations made under the changes we are introducing will only apply to those businesses that choose to rely on the new safe harbour provision.

If a business does not want to make an Australian origin claim under these reforms—that is, these changes to the act: the creation of new regulations and an information standard—then that business will not face any additional regulatory burden. It will not be required to comply with new labelling requirements.

These changes will provide long-term certainty to the complementary medicines sector on their safe-harbour Australian origin claims while responding to consumers' concerns on country of origin labelling.

The bill strikes the right balance between encouraging domestic sales and exports and maintaining consumer confidence in the transparency of Australian origin claims and in the value of the widely recognised 'Australian Made, Australian Grown' logo.

This bill reflects the government's commitment to support manufacturers and ensure that they continue to play a critical role in creating more local jobs and further driving Australia's future economic growth.

I commend this bill.

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