G/TBT/N/AUS/100/Add.1  
 
24 June 2016  
(16-3437)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
  NOTIFICATION  
Addendum 
The following communication, dated 24 June 2016, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Australia. 
 
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 The proposed regulations notified in G/TBT/N/AUS/100 (December 2015) will be commencing on 1 July 2016, with a transition period of 2 years. 
The Australian Government has finalised enhanced co untry of origin labelling requirements for food 
sold in retail stores in Australia. The finalised requirements differ only slightly from the draft proposal notified to the WTO and trading partners in December 2015 (G/TBT/N/AUS/100). 
An Information Standard under Australian Consumer Law has been created which sets out the new 
country of origin labelling requirements for food sold in Australia. This new Information Standard will commence on 1 July 2016. Businesses will have up to two years to transition to the new 
arrangements. The transition period will end on 30 June 2018. All stock in trade can continue to be 
sold, including after the transition period. 
During the transition period, labelling for food for retail sale must comply with either the new 
Information Standard or the current labelling requirements as set out in the Australia New Zealand 
Food Standards Code. 
There will be minimal impact on food imported into Australia. Imported food will continue to 
require a label with a country of origin statement (e.g. Product of Thailand, Made in Canada etc). 
The main change for most food imported into Australia is that the country of origin statement will 
now need to be placed in a defined box. In a mino rity of cases, changes to requirements for "made 
in" and "packed in" claims could also impact imports. 
Australia will continue to use a risk-based compliance and enforcement scheme for imported food 
at the border, including country of origin labelling requirements. 
The full text of the adopted measure can be downloaded from the internet addresses below: 1. The Country of Origin Food Labelling Information Standard Labelling is available 
from: https://www.legislation.go v.au/Details/F2016L00528  
2. The Country of Origin Food Labelling Information Standard Explanatory Statement is 
available from: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Det ails/F2016L00528/Explanatory%20State
ment/Text  
Further information is available: 
a) A fact sheet for international trading partners on Australia's country of origin labelling 
requirements is available from: http://www.industry.gov.au/indu stry/IndustrySectors/FoodM
anufacturingIndustry/Documents/Country-of-Origin-Food-Labelling-Trading-Partners-
Factsheet.pdf  G/TBT/N/AUS/100/Add.1 
 
- 2 - 
 
  b) General information on Australia's country of origin requirements can be found 
at: http://www.business.gov.au/business-topics/selling-products-and-services/selling-
products/Country-of-origin-food-labelling  
and 
http://www.foodlabels.industry.gov.au/  
and 
http://www.industry.gov.au/industry/IndustryS ectors/FoodManufacturingIndustry/Pages/Co
untry-of-Origin-Labelling.aspx  
Or requested in hard copy from: 
The Australian Government Department of Industry, Innovation and Science Portfolio Strategic Policy Division 
GPO Box 9839 
Canberra, ACT, 2601 Australia 
Telephone: +61 2 6276 1085 
Facsimile: +61 2 6213 761 E-mail: originlabelling@industry.gov.au  
https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2016/TBT/AUS/16_2541_01_e.pdf   
https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2016/TBT/AUS/16_2541_00_e.pdf   
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