Prosser RichardFOOD SAFETY LAW REFORM BILLFirst ReadingDebate resumed from 9 August.RICHARD PROSSER (NZ First): I will continue briefly with the call that was interrupted. I believe I was in full flight speaking about country-of-origin labelling when the break came at the last opportunity to speak on this bill. I want to revisit that because it is an extremely important issue to many people including many in the sector. I believe I was going to touch on the fact that we do rely heavily on certification from overseas jurisdictions—places where food imports come from. That is all well and good because they rely on our own systems in a similar way and there has to be reciprocal trust back and forth between importing and exporting countries. But there is a saying in some parts of the world Trust in God but tether your camel". It is all very well to take certificates and guarantees and so forth at face value from nations that we ostensibly trust but there is no harm in embarking in the cheap insurance policy of checking as well—and of requiring that information to be backed up by as much additional information and detail as is possible.I have a statement—it is a letter of sorts from Horticulture New Zealand outlining its position on the matter and it is one with which New Zealand First concurs entirely. We have a voluntary country-of-origin labelling system for food which is a bit of an anachronism in the world. It currently places the decisions on whether to provide country-of-origin information with the suppliers which deprives consumers of information that they want. We have existing regulations that require mandatory country-of-origin labelling for footwear whiteware wine and clothing but we do not have it for food. That disadvantages fruit and vegetable growers as their products are identified as New Zealand - grown and it means that our food regulations are out of step with Australia and 90 percent of our trading partners. Horticulture New Zealand answers some questions there in its statement. Is this a trade barrier? No most countries around the world have some form of mandatory country-of-origin labelling. Will we face retaliatory action? No again for the same reason because most countries with which we trade have some sort of a country-of-origin labelling system.But there is a perception—and I think there is some validity to it—that there is a reluctance on the part of the Government to accept these quite valid criticisms from across the sector and from consumers. This is probably because there is pressure from one particular supplier in terms of resisting having country of origin identified on some food products. I will not name the country but I am pretty sure we all know which it is. There is a perception that because a great deal of financial support comes from that nation to the major party of Government it is therefore reluctant to upset this particular nation by going down the road of country-of-origin labelling which—as Horticulture New Zealand quite rightly pointed out—about 90 percent of the world does have.So our position is that we feel that a Food Safety Law Reform Bill that already aims to amend the Food Act is the perfect opportunity to include country-of-origin labelling when it was not included in the first instance. I do hope that the Government does take this opportunity to listen again to the valid concerns of people who are concerned by this and to open its mind to the opportunity of addressing them. It would be a great shame if the support of other parties across the House were to be withdrawn because the Government found itself not of a mind to be open to those sorts of concerns. All that said I do not intend to take up too much more of the House's time at this stage other than to reiterate that New Zealand First will support this bill only through to the select committee at this stage wherein we hope and trust that our concerns will be addressed and our continued support beyond the select committee stage will be dependent on our concerns being addressed and being answered. Thank you."