Overview
The complementary medicines sector has called for greater access to Australian origin claims for its products.
The Australian Government, with the agreement of state and territory members of the Legislative and Governance Forum on Consumer Affairs (CAF), is progressing reforms to address the issue. This will also enable the complementary medicines sector to use the 'Australian Made, Australian Grown' (AMAG) logo if they choose to be licensed.
CAF ministers agreed that producers of complementary medicines who rely on these reforms will be required to disclose the proportion of Australian ingredients on labels when the product is claimed to be ‘Made in Australia'. This approach balances the sector’s concerns and consumer interests.
Why we are consulting
As part of these reforms, the Government will create an industry specific Information Standard to govern labelling on complementary medicines, when an Australian origin claim is made under the planned 2020 legislative and regulatory changes.
This consultation process offers affected and interested stakeholders an opportunity to provide feedback on key provisions of the proposed Information Standard. This will ensure that the respective needs of industry and consumers are well understood in the design of the Information Standard.
The proposed Information Standard is expected to be similar to the Country of Origin Food Labelling Information Standard 2016.
Discussion paper
This following survey is based on this discussion paper [1.2MB PDF] [787KB DOCX], which frames issues we expect to be of particular interest to industry and consumers. The discussion paper text is also viewable at the beginning of the survey.
There are 23 survey questions in total. As both consumers and industry are encouraged to take part, you may find that some questions are more applicable to you than others. Responses are optional, so you can choose to answer only those questions that apply to you.
If you would prefer to upload a response, there is an option to do so once you have answered the demographic questions. The survey questions have been included in the downloadable version of the Discussion paper to guide your response.
What happens next
Submissions received will inform drafting of the final Information Standard to govern country of origin labelling for complementary medicines.
It is expected that the Information Standard will be finalised by the end of 2021.
Related
Country of Origin Labelling for Complementary Medicines Proposed Information Standard - Discussion Paper 1.2 MB (PDF document)
Country of Origin Labelling for Complementary Medicines Proposed Information Standard - Discussion Paper 785.8 KB (Office Word 2007 XML document)