Faafoi to change food law
WELLINGTON: Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi plans to step in and make changes to a proposed law for country of origin food labelling, because a parliamentary committee will not.
MPs have been criticised for watering down a member’s Bill to such an extent that foods such as bacon — made from imported pork — would no longer be included.
But Mr Faafoi has now discovered he can use his powers as minister to put them back in.
Consumer and industry representatives have been vocal in their disappointment that bacon and other foods that undergo processing of any kind have been slashed from the Bill’s scope by MPs on the committee.
Consumer New Zealand chief executive Sue Chetwin last week called the watereddown Bill ‘‘almost meaningless’’.
But a figurative bomb was dropped on the primary production select committee last week, when officials came back and said that under the Fair Trading Act, the minister can make changes via regulation once the law’s in place.
Mr Faafoi said he plans to use that power, instead of charging ahead with his original plan to put up an amendment during the legislative process.
‘‘That’s a simpler way to do it, and I think there was to a degree a frustration about some of the slowing tactics of the National MPs around the table at the primary production select committee,’’ he said.
‘‘There was no progress. And we wanted to make sure in some way, shape or form, that consumers and producers had certainty about what was coming and a timeframe of when it would happen.’’
Mr Faafoi said he will look to Australia, which has just implemented strict country of origin food labelling laws, for guidance on what that change will look like.
New Zealand Pork told RNZ last week that about 85% of bacon and ham is made from imported meat.
Up to 95% of that comes from countries that do not have New Zealand’s farming standards or animal welfare laws. And yet it said much of that is still sold as a New Zealand product on supermarket shelves, as it is usually shaved or cured here.
Once bacon is included in the legislation, producers would be required to label the product with the country the animal came from.
But Mr Faafoi admits it will be at least 18 months until he can begin to make any promised changes.
‘‘It’s something like that, which I guess will potentially frustrate some consumers and producers who want some certainty,’’ he said. — RNZ