Country of Origin campaign strikes a chord

“I’ve been delighted by the huge support received from consumers, producer organisations and businesses,” Green Party Consumer Affairs Spokesperson Sue Kedgley says.

“Our office has been flooded with messages of support and people wanting to sign and distribute the petition. A diverse range of organisations have already pledged their support for the campaign, from Horticulture New Zealand and GE Free NZ to Parents Centre and Grey Power.

“I am particularly pleased that Horticulture NZ, who represent some 7000 New Zealand growers, is so strongly endorsing mandatory country of origin labelling. The remit at their annual conference yesterday was unanimously passed.

“The argument of trade barriers is a red herring - Australia has mandatory country of origin labelling, and they seem to be able to trade internationally. The cost issue could be easily managed – point of sale labelling indicating country of origin would cost producers very little.

“I’m frankly mystified by the opposition from Federated Farmers – surely they would want consumers to know that their produce is from New Zealand? We have an outstanding brand identity, and our products already command a premium. Federated Farmers seem to be behaving contrary to their members interests.

“However, comments in the media today show they clearly haven’t seen the petition. One article has them claiming that labelling multiple ingredient food items would be too expensive. In fact, the petition only calls for single component labelling. I would be very pleased to meet with them and discuss the campaign.

“In the absence of country of origin labelling, consumers can’t figure out whether they are buying New Zealand-made or imported produce. It's time we address this and judging from the reaction in the past day, there's more than enough demand” Ms Kedgley says.