FEDERAL Agriculture and Water Resources Minister David Littleproud has written to fast food outlets urging them to voluntarily display Country of Origin Labelling (CoOL) information.
But groups that are already pushing for greater labelling transparency for food service menus say Mr Littleproud is on the right track but only a mandatory labelling regime can work effectively.
Mr Littleproud issued a statement outlining a new push to advance CoOL measures already introduced by the federal Coalition government on retail food packaging, in an effort to inform consumers about imported products that can potentially damage the viability of local farmers and industry.
Seafood Industry Australia (SIA) and Australian Pork Limited (APL) are already lobbying the federal government for CoOL on food service menus, to build awareness about the impact of cheap imports, versus locally produced products.
Mr Littleproud said the Coalition government planned to discuss the issue of voluntary CoOL labelling with the fast food industry in the near future.
“Consumers and farmers fought for years for a simple label showing the consumer where their food comes from,” he said.
“The Coalition is delivering that.
“Simple bar graphs will show the percentage of packaged food which is Australian using labels which become compulsory on July 1 this year.
“It’d be great if fast food outlets voluntarily got on board too.”
Mr Littleproud said consumers deserved the chance to buy Australian and to know where their food comes from.
“Aussie farmers deserve the chance to collect on their hard work to produce clean, green food and the way to do that is to give consumers the chance to buy it,” he said.
“Many major fast food outlets already use very high proportions of Aussie farm produce.
“No business has anything to fear from consumers knowing where their food comes from – accurate information to consumers is what creates a pure market.”
The Coalition’s new CoOL laws come into effect on July 1.
Mr Littlproud’s media statement today comes ahead of a report being released by a working group - led by the Assistant Industry, Innovation and Science Minister Craig Laundy – into options on CoOL in the food service sector, amid the SIA and APL push.
SIA CEO Jane Lovell said the voluntary push by Mr Littleproud was welcomed but the only option for voluntary CoOL on food service menus was mandatory.
“I agree with everything Minister Littlproud has said except for the word voluntary and it can’t just be fast food outlets - it needs to be restaurants and cafes also.
“I really look forward to discussing it with him because we’ve got a good handle on what will actually work.
“It’s good that he’s talking about it but he’s talking about it because of compulsory labelling being introduced, for retail food products.
“We’re on the record as saying we don’t believe voluntary labelling is the solution and have always argued in favour of a mandatory labelling regime.
“I look forward to meeting with David Littleproud to discuss our position and some of our solutions for low coast options for labelling.
“We absolutely agree with the need for labelling on food service menus and we welcome any movement on this but seriously don’t think voluntary will work.”
National Farmers’ Federation CEO Tony Mahar did not say whether CoOL in food service outlets should be mandatory or voluntary.
“The NFF has a vision for Australian agriculture to be a $100 billion industry by 2030. Up from its 2016-2017 value of $63 billion,” he said.
“To achieve this, the sector will require growth across a number of fronts.
“One such front could well be a move by ‘big fast food’ chains to source more produce from Australian farmers.
“McDonald’s spends more than $1b on food, packaging and other Australian goods and services each year and has a reputation of working with farmers to develop long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships.
“Customers value that their meal is made from home-grown produce and often there is a cost benefit of local procurement.”
Ms Lovell said information being fed into Minister Laundy’s working group on the issue stated that in the absence of country or origin, 50 per cent of consumers assumed the product was of Australian origin and in the case of seafood that was “incorrect”.
SIA has produced figures saying pf Australia’s total seafood consumption - from both imported and domestic origins – 51pc is consumed via foodservice channels.
APL policy general manager Deb Kerr said her group’s view was reflected by the seafood industry, that it was nice for a discussion to occur around voluntary CoOL labelling, but they would prefer a mandatory system across all food service to ensure consumers had an informed choice.
Ms Kerr said the usual food service defence was about the cost of changing menus and that wait staff can instead advise consumers about a product’s country of origin.
But she said food service staff, from the front of the premises to the kitchen, were unlikely to know.
Ms Kerr said however the seafood industry had highlighted solutions that would be easy and practical to implement, as the way forward.
AUSVEG CEO James Whiteside said Australian consumers preferred to purchase locally-grown food and had a right to know where their food comes from.
He said the new CoOL provided more information to consumers about their food but the new system’s impact was lessened by not being applied equally across all food groups
“The inconsistent, two-tiered approach to the new labelling is problematic for consumers, but if the fast food industry can get on board and agree to voluntarily display these labels on their food products, it would be a decisive affirmation of the right of Australian consumers to make more informed decisions about the food they buy,” he said.
“AUSVEG has been a vocal advocate for clearer Country of Origin Labelling and we hope that the fast food industry, and other industries which will be exempt from mandatory labelling, adopt the labelling so that consumers are able to make more informed purchasing decisions.
“This is a good time to have a conversation to why our industry is so susceptible to competition from processing vegetable imports.
“If our growers aren’t able to be cost-competitive with imported produce in an open market, and if this is driving food producers to look overseas for their ingredients, then all stakeholders need to consider how we can work together to help our growers supply Australian consumers with the locally-grown food they’re after.”
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