Review of Food Labelling Law and Policy

The Ministerial Council on 23 October 2009 announced that former Australian Health Minister, Dr Neal Blewett AC, will head up the Panel which will undertake a comprehensive examination of food labelling law and policy. Dr Blewett was a pioneer of Australia’s universal Medicare health system and is a strong advocate for the rights of consumers.

Dr Blewett is joined on the panel by public health law academic Dr Chris Reynolds, economic and consumer behaviour expert Professor Simone Pettigrew, food and nutrition policy academic Associate Professor Heather Yeatman, and food industry communications, marketing and corporate affairs professional Nick Goddard.

The Review Panel has completed two rounds of public consultation. On 26 October 2009, interested stakeholders were invited to provide brief submissions on food labelling issues within the Terms of Reference, to be considered as part of the Review. This consultation round closed on 20 November 2009, and the Panel received more than 6000 submissions.

The issues raised by stakeholders during the initial round of consultation, as well as issues in the literature and media in recent years, formed the basis of the Panel’s Issues Consultation Paper, which was released on 5 March 2010 to launch the second round of public consultation. The Panel called for written submissions in response to the questions posed in the Issues Consultation Paper, and also held a series of public consultation forums in Australia and New Zealand. The second phase of consultation, and the opportunity to provide written submissions, closed on 14 May 2010. The Panel received more than 550 written submissions, and more than 550 people attended the public consultation forums.

The Review Panel is now considering stakeholders’ perspectives provided in the written submissions and other information gathered during the course of the Review process to inform the development of its recommendations.

The final report of the Review Panel will be provided to Government through the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council in December 2010 and to COAG in early 2011.

Page last updated: 22 February, 2010