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Labor Lax On Food Labelling The Bracks Government has had five years to get its act together and enforce Country of Origin Labelling (CoOL) in Victoria but it has done nothing, Shadow Minister for Agriculture Philip Davis said today. By Philip Davis - 19th October 2005 - Back to News Mr Davis asked Labor’s Health Minister Bronwyn Pike how many prosecutions the Bracks Government had instigated for breaches of food labelling requirements in the past five years.
Commonwealth authorities had previously clarified that State Governments are in fact responsible for enforcing food labelling regulations – despite the Bracks Government taking no responsibility for it.
In response to Mr Davis raising the issue in Parliament, Bronwyn Pike confirmed the Bracks Government failed to undertake any prosecutions in relation to breaches of the Act in the past five years.
"My department has not undertaken prosecutions in relation to CoOL over the past five years."
– Letter from Bronwyn Pike, 6 October 2005
Despite the Bracks Government supporting the recent campaign by Tasmanian farmers angry about country of origin labelling, it has done nothing to support Victorian farmers by failing to enforce food labelling regulations as codified under inter-government agreements through Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ).
"These standards state that all unpackaged fresh fruit, vegetables and seafood must be labelled with the country of origin or at least as ‘imported’, while packaged fresh produce must declare the country of origin," Mr Davis said.
"The Department of Human Services is responsible for enforcing these laws, but by Bronwyn Pike’s own admission, her department has been sitting idle for the past five years.
"Furthermore, Bronwyn Pike stated her Department has received no complaints from consumers in the past five years about food labelling. Rather than protecting our primary industries and encouraging people to buy local produce, the Bracks Government has adopted a policy of sitting back waiting for a complaint before enforcing labelling standards."
Mr Davis said he held grave concerns for the future enforcement of FSANZ’s draft country of origin standards that are currently proposed.
"These proposed changes would require all packaged and unpackaged fruit, vegetables and seafood to display its country of origin," he said.
"While these changes would be welcomed, what confidence can Victorian consumers and farmers have for any new regulations to be properly implemented and policed if the Bracks Government can not take responsibility for current regulations?"
Source: http://gippsland.com/ Published by: news@gippsland.com
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