The Australian Government is developing an Information Standard for manufacturers of complementary medicines seeking to make ‘Made in Australia’ claims.
The Government proposes to implement the Information Standard under planned legislative and regulatory changes this year.
Amendments to country of origin labelling (CoOL) laws in 2017 changed the basis for making ‘Made in Australia’ claims. This also affected access to the Australian Made, Australian Grown (AMAG) logo.
The changes focused on the food industry, but had unexpected consequences for the complementary medicines sector.
While it’s voluntary for the sector to make Australian origin claims, they are subject to the same CoOL laws. Some of their products manufactured from 100% imported ingredients were no longer eligible to claim ‘Made in Australia’.
The Government is implementing reforms to restore access for these manufacturers to make a ‘Made in Australia’ claim. This involves adding an additional test to the definition of substantial transformation. Products making a claim in line with the reforms will be required to disclose the proportion of Australian ingredients.
The Information Standard will set out the labelling requirements.
We are now seeking your feedback on key provisions of the proposed Information Standard. This will help us develop CoOL for complementary medicines.
Visit our Consultation Hub to have your say.
Consultation closes on 24 September 2020.
Read more
- The Minister announced the amendments on 18 December 2019
- We consulted about the interim regulations in October 2019
- Read more about country of origin labelling