Prawns will now be clearly labelled to show their country of origin. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
It’s now much easier for seafood consumers to know what they’re buying and where it comes from, after new country of origin labelling requirements came into effect nationally on 1 July.
Whether fresh, frozen, wholesale, retail, at restaurants or takeaway shops, under the Australian Consumer Law all seafood sold in Australia must now be labelled using the AIM system: A for Australian, I for Imported, or M for Mixed.
So what does this mean for consumers?
Fair Trading Commissioner Josh Rynehart told Region that it’s all about increasing consumer confidence in the industry and giving them a clear understanding of what they’re buying.
“It’s a big step forward for consumers. It’s important for them to know where their seafood comes from,” he said.
“We’ve made it really easy for people to make informed decisions.”
John Fragopoulos is the owner of Fishco and said the new labelling requirements would help consumers. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
John Fragopoulos has run Fishco Fish Market in Canberra for 25 years. He described himself an “old-school fisher” and has seen many changes in the industry since he started out. He said these regulations were long overdue.
“These laws are 20 years late. There was a lot of fraud before, because people couldn’t tell where [the seafood] was from,” he said.
“Prawn farmers in particular wanted better transparency. Imported prawns are half the price, so the farmers from Queensland wanted to show that this is Australian and it’s about quality.”
While these labelling laws improve transparency for the consumer about seafood origin, they don’t include any requirement to say whether it was farmed or wild caught.
Josh Rynehart said this was an area for businesses to make their own choices.
“Businesses can still provide further information about sustainable farming vs wild caught and there’s often a competitive advantage in doing so,” he said.
“These standards are a good step forward. We were looking for the standards to be something practical, reasonable and easy to implement.”
He also said that so far businesses have been supportive of the changes and he had seen no pushback on the requirements.
The Fair Trading Commission will continue working with businesses over the coming months to help them understand and implement the changes, rather than penalising those who are not yet compliant.
Seafood must be labelled as Australian, Imported, or Mixed even if a more specific origin is detailed. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
The new laws will impact all hospitality businesses selling ready-to-eat seafood for immediate consumption, even if the customer takes the food away.
The law covers saltwater and freshwater species, farmed and wild-caught products and includes fish, molluscs, crustaceans, jellyfish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, eels and other aquatic animals, as well as the eggs, larvae or spat of those animals.
Exceptions to these standards include shelf-stable seafoods such as canned tuna, fish stock, oyster sauce, or shrimp paste and dishes containing these ingredients.
Fundraising events and institutions such as schools, prisons and hospitals, are also exempt from these new standards.
And if a dish is not advertised as containing seafood and is not generally known to contain seafood — such as a small amount of prawn meat in fried rice — then the country of origin does not need to be labelled.
Restaurants must also use the AIM standards even when their menu is more specific: Sydney Rock Oysters must be labelled as A for Australian, or the menu might state that all seafood is Australian.
Find out more about the new seafood country of origin labelling standards.
Original Article published by Lucy Ridge on Region Canberra.
