New country-of-origin rules won't improve food safety

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has cautioned against using the origin of goods as a proxy for consumer safety.

Following concerns over the possible link between an outbreak of Hepatitis A and berries imported from China, the federal government is considering changing the rules for the way a product’s country of origin is defined and labelled.

However, ACCI CEO Kate Carnell said such changes will do nothing to improve consumer safety and could harm Australian producers.

“While these proposals relate to the origin of products, they do nothing to address the adequacy of safety testing regimes, the real source of the problem,” Carnell said.

“If we are not careful, we will end up with multiple, inconsistent systems for determining a product’s country of origin, leading to extra costs for business and consumers but no better outcome on product safety.

“Australia has wisely in the past sought to apply international standards and mutual recognition schemes, reducing costs for Australian businesses and consumers. Any move to break away would be a mistake, creating additional compliance burdens in a kneejerk reaction to a food safety issue.

“In an era of global supply chains and inputs sourced from multiple places, determining the country of origin is no easy thing. Under the international rules, the key factor in determining where a product is made is where it undertakes its ‘last substantial transformation’. This is the process by which Swiss chocolates can be called Swiss, even though Switzerland has no cocoa trees.

“Under these rules, products with inputs from multiple places that are brought together in Australia are labelled as ‘Australian’ internationally. If we move away from this system, those very same products might not be labelled as ‘Australian’ in their home market.”

ACCI Director of Trade and International Affairs Bryan Clark said: “The government needs to think carefully about whether it wants to deviate from the global standard, in which governments certify country of origin.

“The system of determining origin is often used by businesses and governments around the world to support statements about where things are made as well as to apply anti-dumping regimes, sanctions, compliance regimes for preferential trade agreements and import quota schemes.

“Ministers and other members of parliament need to ensure that our international trade is supported by a strong system of certified origin that protects Australian producers and their claims about what is ‘Australian’ product.”