The office of Australian agriculture minister, Barnaby Joyce, has reassured the country’s trading partners that the introduction of proposed country of origin labelling laws would have a “minimal” impact on import sales programmes.
Joyce’s pledge comes after New Zealand’s Ministry of Primary Industries claimed the reforms would adversely affect New Zealand’s producers, who supply more than A$2.46bn worth of agricultural goods to Australia annually.
“Food imported from New Zealand is already required to make a true country-of-origin statement on labels,” a spokesman for Joyce told the Weekly Times. “The amendments under the proposed reforms would require that this origin statement now be placed in a clearly defined box on the label.”
The move has drawn praise from peak industry body Ausveg, who have been strong advocates for a stronger country of origin labelling system.
“Minister Joyce’s comments regarding the minimal level of impact that the proposed changes will have on our trading partners echoes Ausveg’s belief that there is no excuse to prevent the development of a robust country of origin labelling system in Australia,” said Ausveg chief executive Richard Mulcahy.
“It’s imperative that we move away from the confusing and ambiguous system of the past towards a solution that meets the needs of consumers, who have repeatedly indicated that they want a clearer indication of where the food they are buying comes from.”
Australia’s proposed country of origin labelling reforms, revealed in July last year, are currently being reviewed by World Trade Organisation member countries.
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