NATION ACCC in fish oil capsule dispute

A CHINESE- owned vitamins giant is taking the consumer cops to court so it can keep marketing imported fish oil capsules as Australian- made.

The Federal Court action filed by Nature’s Care against the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is the first test of tougher country of origin labelling laws introduced last year.

The ACCC, which has the job of enforcing the new laws, has said putting imported active ingredients in a capsule in Australia is “unlikely to” qualify as Australian- made.

In contrast, making a tablet or essential oil here from raw imported ingredients gets the ACCC’s green ( and gold) light.

In documents News Corp obtained from the Federal Court, Nature’s Care says its soft gel capsules are substantially transformed in Australia.

“The collection of raw ingredients including fish oil as it exists prior to encapsulation is fundamentally different in identity, nature and essential character from the finished goods, being the soft gel capsule containing Fish Oil + vitamin D,” Nature’s Care says.

The company wants a declaration that its product are “last substantially transformed” in Australia.

It also argues that “in any event … it is neither misleading or deceptive to describe those goods as ‘ made in Australia’ given the process of encapsulation that occurs in Australia.”

Nature’s Care says that if it can’t market its wares as Aus- tralia- made any more it will have to “bear the cost of changing its packaging for a wide range of products, will lose competitive advantage of being able to use the ‘ Made in Australia’ logo and experience a reduction in sales of encapsulated products and hence revenue.”

Nature’s Care’s 2017 financial report says it experienced a rise in revenue compared to the previous calendar year “mainly due to an increased demand from Asia, especially China”.

As has been seen in the baby formula market, the rapidly expanding Chinese middle class has a voracious appetite for edible Australianmade goods.

Nature’s Care is Australia’s third- largest vitamin seller, with sales of $ 172 million in 2017 leading to a net profit of $ 37 million. While it has a manufacturing plant in Sydney, it is controlled by two Chinese equity firms headquartered in Singapore and the Cayman Islands.

Nature’s Care did not respond to requests for comment.