The Coalition introduces common sense plan for organic products to be actually organic

The Coalition is introducing common sense legislation to ensure organic products being sold and consumed across the domestic and export markets are actually organic.

Leader of The Nationals David Littleproud said the National Organic Standard Bill 2024 is a no brainer because it will improve the domestic regulation of organics.

“The Coalition is proud to introduce the Bill for a National Organic Standard to manage domestic organic products and the import of organic products into Australia,” Mr Littleproud said.

“It defies logic that organic products currently aren’t required to be certified or comply with any particular organic standard, but can still call themselves organic. Products in Australia can claim to be organic with as little as two per cent of the ingredients being certified organic. In comparison, organic products sold for export require 95 per cent organic ingredients.

“The difference is misleading on consumers and unfair on sellers who are doing the right thing. It leads to lack of information and accountability, which impacts consumer confidence in organic products, increases costs for organic businesses and hinders market growth. The Coalition is determined to fix this problem so organic consumers can know they are getting the real deal and will be comparing (organic) apples to apples.”

The Coalition’s Bill will:

Require businesses that sell organic produce to meet the National Organic Standard.

Require importers to meet the National Organic Standard, or similar.

There will be exemptions to be certified if the annual turnover of organic produce doesn’t exceed $25,000.

Make the current export standard - National Standard for Organic and Bio-Dynamic Produce - the National Organic Standard.

Enable audits, compliance and enforcement.

Impose penalties for selling or intending to sell organic product if it doesn’t meet the National Organic Standard.

Provide a transition period of three years.

Require an Independent Review after six years.

Kialla Foods owner Quentin Kennedy said the lack of equivalence for his Greenmount-based business, which exports over 40 per cent primarily into Japan and Korea, was costing export sales every day.

“We have many multi-ingredient products which are fully compliant to the National Standard but simply cannot be exported to Korea due to the lack of international equivalence,” Mr Kennedy said.

“This lack of equivalence is significant in terms of lost sales each year. Organic production and compliance is difficult enough as it is, without this further impediment to growing sales.”

Australia is the last nation in the OECD to not have a regulatory framework for the use of the word ‘organic’.

A 16-member expert panel, the Organic Industry Advisory Group, was set up in 2020 to advise how to advance Australia’s domestic regulatory framework.

“The current regulatory framework is not fit for purpose,” Mr Littleproud said.

“The former Coalition government had started a pathway to setting an Australian standard for the organics industry, worth over $2 billion annually, by setting up an industry-led advisory group, which laid down the pathway to complete this reform.

“Labor’s lack of action has resulted in an unworkable and costly dual system, where products for export and the domestic market are subject to different standards.”