The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (DAWR) has launched a new project to improve the ‘traceability’ of agricultural produce grown and processed in Australia.
Minister for Agriculture, David Littleproud said the project would enhance trust in Australian-grown products and give the nation’s farmers a competitive edge.
“We’ll be able to more easily find where a biosecurity or food safety problem began so an isolated incident won’t impact a whole industry,” Mr Littleproud said.
“It will also let us stop overseas shipments earlier if there’s a food safety issue. We already do this well but this will make us even better at it.”
He said the project would allow producers to fully support claims, such as ‘organic’ and ‘environmentally friendly’.
“This improvement will build greater trust in Aussie food and strengthen ‘brand Australia’,” Mr Littleproud said.
“If we can demonstrate our food is best in the world we’ll see better profits for farmers.”
He said consultations would get under way to develop a National Traceability Policy Framework and Action Plan within the next six months.
“Improving our traceability systems will help us strengthen our reputation for delivering high quality, clean, green and safe food,” the Minister said.
The National Traceability Project is being led by a Traceability Working Group with members from all Australian Governments.
He said modelling showed broader traceability and biosecurity could increase agricultural production by $1 billion a year.
Approximately 70 per cent of Australia’s agricultural produce is exported, he said.
