A coalition Liberal-National government will introduce mandatory country- of-origin seafood labelling laws should it claim power in this month’s election in the Australian state of Victoria.
Bill Tilley, an elected member of Victoria’s Parliament and shadow minister for fishing and boating, said the changes will allow diners at pubs, cafés, restaurants, and other foodservice establishments to know the country of origin for fresh and cooked seafood. Tilley is a member of the Victoria’s Liberal Party and will be seeking reelection when voters in the state head to the polls on 26 November, 2022.
“This is a way for Victorians to know they’re supporting our Australian seafood industry,” Tilley said. “It’s a change that will see uniformity across retail and foodservice industry seafood sales, giving consumers the information they need to make informed choices.”
The move has been welcomed by the state’s seafood industry. Stakeholders claim imported seafood products are often marketed in Victoria’s eateries as locally-caught. Popular local fish such as flake (gummy shark) and flathead are often substituted for imported species such as shark from Asia and Argentinian duckbill.
“All consumers should have the right to know where their seafood is coming from at the very point of sale, without being exposed to tricky wording that has taken advantage of slack labeling laws and loopholes that in the past, have allowed unscrupulous operators to profit from the consumer trust in the Victorian fishing industry,” Josh Pearce, a distributor and retailer of locally caught fish in Australia, said.
In a statement, Simon Boag, an executive officer with the Southern Shark Industry Alliance and the South East Trawl Fishing Industry Association, called for rules to end the practice of disguising imports as locally-sourced seafood in Australia. Boag said similar laws already exist in Australia’s Northern Territory, and called on Victoria’s Labor Party to also adopt the policy.
Victoria is Australia’s second most-populous state, with Melbourne – the nation’s second most-populous city – is its capital.
Australia’s federal government recently set aside USD 1 million (EUR 1 million) for the next two years in its most recent budget to introduce mandatory country-of-origin labeling for seafood products.
Photo courtesy of marcobrivio.photo/Shutterstock
