Health claims standard a “regressive step”, says AFGC

New regulation on nutrition content and health claims will result in unnecessary costs, discourage innovation and reduce trade competitiveness in the food processing sector, claims the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC).

The Legislative and Governance Forum on Food Regulation approved a new food standard covering health claims - draft standard 1.2.7 Nutrition, Health and Related Claims - on 7 December.

AFGC CEO Gary Dawson described the decision to approve the standard as a regressive step that will adversely affect the competitiveness of the food and grocery manufacturing sector and fail to provide consumers with information that could allow them to make a more informed decision about the food they consume.

“The new health claims standard is a disproportionate response to a non-issue that will discourage innovation in food products, increase regulatory costs, discourage investment and ultimately pose a competitive disadvantage for domestic manufacturers,” said Dawson.

“The AFGC is very concerned that at a time when Australia’s food manufacturing industry is under great financial pressure, regulators are proposing to increase the regulatory burden on food companies, thereby undermining their competitiveness in both domestic and export markets.

“This decision comes just two days after the government announced its commitment to reduce red tape and review unnecessary regulation. It is also inconsistent with the broader policy emphasis on reshaping the manufacturing sector to take advantage of the Asian Century.”

Dawson suggested that additional regulations could increase manufacturers’ costs and ultimately drive jobs offshore. According to Dawson, the new standard imposes a substantiation process that goes beyond the equivalent regulation in the EU and US.

“While we are obviously disappointed with today’s outcome, we will continue to work with governments to reduce the impact of major flaws in the standard, particularly with regard to the general level health claims and application of the nutrient profiling scoring criteria,” Dawson said.