Page 2007 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 8 September 1992
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MR BERRY: Now that the Assembly has passed the Food Bill, the National Food Standards Code has been adopted and this situation is covered by the labelling requirements of the code. The requirement is that all food must bear a label of country of origin and, if it is packed in Australia, the country of origin of any imported ingredients must be included in the label. I refer to the Australian Food Standards Code which deals with the particular matter of labelling. It describes a label that complies with the standard as a label which has a statement that identifies the country in which the food was packed for retail sale. If any of the ingredients of the food do not originate in the country in which the food was packed for retail sale, there must be a statement which identifies the country or countries of origin of the ingredients of the food. It has to contain some information to the effect that the food is made from ingredients imported from that country, or from local and imported ingredients as the case requires.
The Food Act of the ACT covers those particular requirements. The sorts of concerns that were expressed in that particular documentary need not be held here in the ACT because the ACT Government has introduced some legislation which is meant to deal with the problem. I think that legislation has not been recognised as being as important in the scheme of things in the ACT as it ought to have been. It does provide a lot of protection for the people of the ACT. This, in turn, is consistent with the Labor Government's commitment to social justice. There are problems of interpretation in such areas as salamis. Whilst the meat may originate elsewhere, the extent of manufacture - - -
Mr Humphries: Now we are in the business of salamis.
MR BERRY: You might not be concerned about it, but the community out there are concerned about these issues and there has been some fear raised by that documentary. Essentially, the Government is clearing up an issue for the people of the ACT and showing them how the ACT Assembly - including yourselves, Liberals - has endorsed a piece of legislation which will assist them in terms of food labelling. As I have said, salamis are a different problem because of the way that some of the products in salamis are dealt with. Whilst the meat may originate elsewhere, the extent of manufacture is such that there is a large Australian content and the original meat has been radically altered. That is a difficult area and one which is more difficult to cope with. In the case of pork imported from Canada, the legislation is quite specific. Unless correctly labelled as "Product of Canada", or similarly, the product would be deemed to be falsely described and therefore not in accordance with the standard.
Thank you, Mrs Grassby, for that question, because it is important that the fears of the community that might have emerged as a result of that particular documentary be put to rest. It needs to be restated, I think, that this Assembly has played an important role in dealing with that issue. The Liberals do not seem to want to take any of the credit for this Assembly's decision in relation to putting in place an important piece of food legislation. They do not want to take any credit for it. The Labor Party is quite happy to take part of that.
Mr Humphries: I take a point of order, Madam Speaker. I think the question was answered quite some time ago. We are keen to get onto other questions in this question time from opposition and other members of the Assembly.
MADAM SPEAKER: I think Mr Berry has finished.
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