Food Standards Amendment (Truth in Labelling - Palm Oil) Bill 2010
Information about the Inquiry
On 27 October 2010 the Senate referred the Food Standards Amendment (Truth in Labelling-Palm Oil) Bill 2010 for inquiry and report.
This Bill was previously referred to the Committee with a report date scheduled for August 2010. However on 19 July 2010, the Governor General prorogued the 42nd Parliament and the Committee was not able to conclude its inquiry.
This inquiry received over 400 submissions. With the re-introduction of the Bill, the Committee should be provided with the opportunity to complete its inquiry and report.
The principal issues for consideration are:
- The rights of consumers to be provided with accurate and truthful information to enable them to make an informed choice about the products they are eating and purchasing;
- That allowing palm oil to be listed a "vegetable oil" on food packaging is misleading to consumers;
- That the impact of palm oil production on wildlife, specifically Orang-utan's in South East Asia is significant unless it is done sustainably;
- That sustainable palm oil can be produced with low impact on the environment and wildlife and with better labour laws on plantations; and,
- That manufacturers should be encouraged to use sustainable palm oil in their production process and subsequently use the status of "Certified Sustainable Palm Oil" under this Bill.
The Community Affairs Legislation Committee is due to report on the 16 June, 2011.
Submissions should be received by 11 February 2011. The Senate granted an extension of time for reporting until 16 June 2011.
The Committee is seeking written submissions from interested individuals and organisations preferably in electronic form submitted online or sent by email to community.affairs.sen@aph.gov.au as an attached Adobe PDF or MS Word format document. The email must include full postal address and contact details.
Alternatively, written submissions may be sent to:
Committee Secretary
Senate Standing Committees on Community Affairs
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia
Notes to help you prepare your submission are available from the website at https://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/wit_sub/index.htm. Alternatively, the Committee Secretariat will be able to help you with your inquiries and can be contacted on telephone +61 2 6277 3515 or facsimile +61 2 6277 5829 or by email to community.affairs.sen@aph.gov.au.
Inquiries from hearing and speech impaired people should be directed to Parliament House TTY number 02 6277 7799. Adobe also provides tools at http://access.adobe.com/ for the blind and visually impaired to access PDF documents. If you require any special arrangements to enable you to participate in the Committee's inquiry, please contact the Committee Secretariat.
Once the Committee accepts your submission, it becomes a confidential Committee document and is protected by Parliamentary Privilege. You must not release your submission without the Committee's permission. If you do, it will not be protected by Parliamentary Privilege. At some stage during the inquiry, the Committee normally makes submissions public and places them on its website. Please indicate if you want your submission to be kept confidential.
For further information, contact: Committee Secretary
Senate Standing Committees on Community Affairs
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia