After decades of circular debate, the push for "truth in labelling" of beef products has been given a chance to acquire some teeth.
Should NSW parliamentarians pass a Bill introduced to State Parliament last Friday, anyone in the beef supply chain who fails to accurately label meat will be subject to fines of up to $2.7 million.
- NSW Independent Richard Torbay introduces private members' bill for tougher meat labelling laws
- If passed the laws would carry big fines for labelling breaches
- Currently there are no fines for describing low grade beef as 'export quality'
Those pushing for more substance in the "truth in labelling" issue hope that if the Bill is passed in NSW, other States may follow suit, achieving on a State-by-State basis what the industry has failed to do at a national level.
Despite past recommendations that the beef industry introduce mandatory "truth in labelling" rules, the industry currently works on a purely voluntary retail code, introduced in 2002, that among other things requires clear labelling of beef from cattle with more than eight incisor teeth—that is, older than three and a half years.
According to the code’s critics, like J.R. McDonald of the family-owned Inverell abattoir Bindaree Beef, the lack of any penalty for violating the code has encouraged the sale of sub-standard beef to consumers, at a severe cost to the industry.
The Food Amendment (Meat Grading) Bill introduced on Friday by Independent Member for Northern Tablelands, Richard Torbay, is similar to the United States system, which loads a voluntary retail code with hefty fines.
Under the current Australian system, processors, wholesalers, retailers and restaurants who sign up to the voluntary code are obliged to sell meat using descriptions based on the AUS-Meat trading language.
In particular, the code asks that meat from animals with more than eight teeth be labelled Budget Ox, Budget Cow or Manufacturing.
Presenting the legislation to NSW Parliament, Mr Torbay noted that under present marketing arrangements, these labels can be bypassed, meaning that "poorer quality beef can be sold at retail level with either no title or titles such as This Week’s Special or Export Quality Beef".
Even if a retailer is signed up to the code, there are no penalties for failure to label according to the code's requirements.
Under the new Bill, the code would be audited, and violations subject to fines of up to $55,000 for individuals and $2.7 million for corporations.
Bindaree Beef and legal counsel Norman Hunt of Hunt Partners, Sydney, have been "working solidly" on the issue for 12 years, Mr McDonald said.
In 2002, Bindaree Beef ran full-page advertisements in several Rural Press weeklies calling for action on the issue, and hosted a rally in Roma, Queensland, that Mr McDonald said attracted 1500 supportive beef producers.
Two years ago, frustrated with what they perceived to be a lack of progress, Bindaree Beef approached Mr Torbay, who helped draft the legislation and subsequently presented the Bill.
"Big accolades should got to Norman Hunt for getting through all the red tape, and to Richard Torbay for having the foresight to see the need for action," Mr McDonald said.
Mr Hunt said past attempts to put some punch into beef labelling laws had fallen into "an abyss of inaction", helped by spoiling tactics from interest groups.
"Opposition historically has come from vested interests whose commercial interests are probably best served by dumping poor quality meat onto the Australian market as table meat," Mr Hunt said.
Mr Torbay said the Bill is important for the industry as a whole, and particularly for his electorate, which produces some of the best beef in the country and has long been a hotbed of unrest over perceived abuses of meat labelling.
In his speech to NSW Parliament, Mr Torbay observed that meat processed for export must go through an AUS-Meat accredited abattoir and be correctly labelled.
"This is not the case with beef sold on the domestic market, irrespective of whether that beef is produced at a domestic abattoir or an export licensed abattoir," he said.
"I believe this amendment should receive bi-partisan support as it meets the needs of consumers, should boost the sale of beef on the domestic market and provide more jobs and income across the beef industry."
Greg Brown, the new Cattle Council of Australia president, had not read the legislation but said the Council is generally supportive of more accurate retail description.
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