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When is a food product ‘made in’ Australia?

23 February 2017
Read Time 2 mins reading time

Late last year we reported on the new country of origin food labelling regime which came into effect under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) on 01 July 2016.

The new labelling regime is intended to provide consumers with clearer, accurate and more meaningful information about the products they buy – where it’s produced, grown, made or packaged.

The new regime should assist in overcoming the difficulty in interpreting food labels and confusion caused by terms such as ‘made in’ and/or ‘product of’ and how this translates to the whole product that appears on the shelf. The changes aim to make it clear to consumers where food is actually produced, instead of reflecting the location where it is processed or ultimately packaged.

‘made in’ and ‘substantially transformed’

As part of the reforms around food labelling, a Bill has now been passed which simplifies the tests used to claim a product is ‘made in’ a particular country. The Bill provides clarity on what is meant by ‘substantially transformed’ which requires a process or processes that alter the goods so they are fundamentally different to when they were imported into a country. Minor processes such as canning, dicing etc will not justify a claim the goods were ‘made in’ a country.

This clarification aims to help businesses understand what does and does not constitute substantial transformation removing the previous ’50 per cent production cost’ test which was not well understood by consumers or simple to administer by businesses.

Further information

Macpherson Kelley’s food group acts for many food producers, processors and importers. If you would like further information about the changes, or food safety or labelling requirements more generally, please contact Paul Kirton on 03 9794 2621.

 

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When is a food product ‘made in’ Australia?

23 February 2017

Late last year we reported on the new country of origin food labelling regime which came into effect under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) on 01 July 2016.

The new labelling regime is intended to provide consumers with clearer, accurate and more meaningful information about the products they buy – where it’s produced, grown, made or packaged.

The new regime should assist in overcoming the difficulty in interpreting food labels and confusion caused by terms such as ‘made in’ and/or ‘product of’ and how this translates to the whole product that appears on the shelf. The changes aim to make it clear to consumers where food is actually produced, instead of reflecting the location where it is processed or ultimately packaged.

‘made in’ and ‘substantially transformed’

As part of the reforms around food labelling, a Bill has now been passed which simplifies the tests used to claim a product is ‘made in’ a particular country. The Bill provides clarity on what is meant by ‘substantially transformed’ which requires a process or processes that alter the goods so they are fundamentally different to when they were imported into a country. Minor processes such as canning, dicing etc will not justify a claim the goods were ‘made in’ a country.

This clarification aims to help businesses understand what does and does not constitute substantial transformation removing the previous ’50 per cent production cost’ test which was not well understood by consumers or simple to administer by businesses.

Further information

Macpherson Kelley’s food group acts for many food producers, processors and importers. If you would like further information about the changes, or food safety or labelling requirements more generally, please contact Paul Kirton on 03 9794 2621.