Country of Origin - Made Where?
Did you know that under the current rules, only 50 percent of the cost of a product has to originate in Australia for it to be called "Made in Australia"?
And did you know that the cost of the packaging is included in that 50 percent?
That's right, even though the ingredients have all been imported, that meat pie or bottle of juice or biscuit can still be labelled "Made in Australia".
This means that we as consumers aren't able to know where the food we buy and eat is coming from.
What does "Made in Australia" actually mean?
Currently, the Trade Practices Act states that goods can be represented as “Made in Australia" if, the goods have been substantially transformed in that country; and 50 percent or more of the cost of producing or manufacturing the goods (as the case may be) is attributable to production or manufacturing processes that occurred in that country.
However, under these regulations, in the instance of a meat pie for example, the packaging can read “Made in Australia” when in fact none of the meat within the meat pie comes from Australia.
In other words, if the packaging, the pastry and the gravy of the meat pie has been made and combined in Australia, but the meat and the ingredients for the gravy was imported, the meat pie can still be labelled “Made in Australia”.
For example, the government recently considered relaxing beef import laws, which would have meant that meat from BSE-affected countries could be used in our food products, be labelled as “Made in Australia”, and the consumer wouldn’t be any the wiser.
Thankfully, this decision was stalled pending a two year inquiry.
Consumers see the word “Australia” and make the obvious assumption that it is made here, from Australian goods, however current laws mean this is not always the case.
Labelling something as “Made in Australia” because the packaging was done here and cost more than 50 percent of the manufacturing cost, but the contents of the food came from China or South America, doesn’t make it Australian.