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Minister ducks free-range egg controversy

The consumer affairs minister is refusing to comment on a freerange egg controversy that has seen major brands abruptly pulled from supermarket shelves - preferring instead to talk about walnuts and acorns on a conveyor belt.

Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Jacqui Dean made clear, however, she did not want business incurring additional costs over the issue.

Two major free-range egg brands are caught up in a Serious Fraud Office investigation after a Newsroom.co.nz investigation revealed millions of eggs sold as free-range were likely to have been caged eggs.

Government regulations extend as far as setting minimum standards for animal welfare, but where false labelling was concerned, that was an issue for Consumer Affairs, under the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment.

Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy confirmed the farm in question, which supplied eggs to the Palace Poultry and Woodland brands that have been pulled, had passed its welfare checks.

But, he said, ‘‘it may get [to] that point’’ where a definition of free-range is required, so egg labels could be better regulated under the Fair Trading Act.

Responsibility for that fell under Dean, who left many scratching their heads when she refused to talk about free-range eggs and instead began talking about walnuts on a production line.

The act prohibits misleading and deceptive conduct, unsubstantiated claims, false representations and certain unfair practices by businesses to sell their products.

‘‘There’s a particular case going on at the moment, and I don’t really have any comment about that. The issue has been raised with me, and I think there’s always [a] way to get around labelling,’’ Dean said.

‘‘The important thing here is the Fair Trading Act and the provisions in that act, because that’s the remedy - labels aren’t necessarily a remedy, but the Fair Trading Act is.’’

Asked what she meant by ‘‘getting around labelling’’, she said: ‘‘Well I don’t know. If we move away from eggs and move to acorns or walnuts – some commodity – and somebody in the processing line sticks a label on, well maybe someone can take them off again.

‘‘So there’ll always be people trying to get around this, and I think we need to go back to the Fair Trading Act, because that’s the remedy for it.’’

It’s unclear how the act would apply when the definition for what constituted free-range was blurred, but Dean was clear she did not want businesses to incur extra costs.

‘‘I would be very concerned around the cost on business. The cost on business ultimately ends up being a cost on the consumer.’’

Guy was clearer on where his ministry’s responsibilities lay. MPI investigated animal welfare and food safety, but this did not fall under either of those issues, he said.

‘‘My understanding is that MPI oversees the Risk Management Plan to do with eggs. That’s mainly on whether they meet the food safety standards.

‘‘Then you get into this broader issue about labelling, and that’s more of a Fair Trading Act issue, and the SFO, as I understand it, are investigating,’’ he said.

That was the ‘‘appropriate place for the questions to be asked’’.

"I would be very concerned around the cost on business. The cost on business ultimately ends up being a cost on the consumer." Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Jacqui Dean