Chief Executive, Tony Mahar said the ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Farmers’ Federation supported the extension of Country of Origin Labelling (CoOL) to seafood and pre-packed cut flowers.
The extension will be one of the contemplations in a review of the CoOL regulation by the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources.
The review will examine the impacts of the existing system and look at ways to make CoOL more consistent and more informative to consumers.
“We know most people prefer to support our farmers by buying products that have been grown right here in Australia,” Mr Mahar said.
“Since its introduction in 2018, the CoOL bar chart has enabled shoppers to quickly and easily make more informed choices about what they put in their trolley.”
“Extending mandatory Country of Origin labelling to seafood and pre-packaged cut flowers will ensure more farmers are able to showcase their world-leading products to discerning Australian shoppers.
Mr Mahar said farmers remained disappointed that some Australian fast food outlets had not yet adopted CoOL labelling, which was currently only mandatory for supermarkets.
“We are extremely pleased that McDonalds and Dominos have made the voluntary decision to adopt the labelling.
“We hope franchises that are yet to sign on, will soon see the benefits of providing transparency to their customers,” Mr Mahar said.
