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Competition
and Consumer Amendment (Australian Country of Origin Food Labelling) Bill 2013
Introduced into the Senate on 16 May
2013
Sponsor: Senator Milne
Summary of committee view
1.21
The committee
seeks clarification on whether a civil penalty provision in the bill should be
classified as 'criminal charges' within the meaning of article 14 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Overview
1.22
This bill seeks
to make changes to Australia’s current system of designation and regulation of
country of origin labelling for food. The bill proposes the establishment of a
new single regulatory regime for most kinds of unpackaged and packaged food,
retaining mandatory labelling requirements, but superseding the country of
origin labelling requirements currently in the Food Standards Australia New
Zealand Act 1995.
Compatibility with human
rights
1.23
This bill is
accompanied by a self-contained statement of compatibility that states that the
bill 'does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms' and is
therefore 'compatible with human rights as it does not raise any human rights
issues.'
Right
to adequate food
1.24
The committee
notes that the bill engages the right to food, which is part of the right to an
adequate standard of living as guaranteed by article 11 of the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
1.25
The UN Committee
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has noted that 'the core content of the
right to adequate food implies ...[t]he availability of food in a quantity and
quality sufficient to satisfy the dietary needs of individuals, free from
adverse substances, and acceptable within a given culture'.[1]
Providing consumers with detailed information about the origins and content of
the food which is available in the market can be viewed as a promotion of the
right to food, as well as of the right to health.
Criminal
procedure rights
1.26
The bill also
introduces or amends a number of penalty provisions, including criminal
offences. It proposes to insert a new section 137C into the Competition and
Consumer Act 2010, which provides in part:
(1) A person must
not, in trade or commerce, supply food of a particular kind if:
(a) a
country of origin labelling requirement applies to food of that kind; andÂ
(b) the
food does not comply with that requirement.
Note: A pecuniary penalty may be
imposed for a contravention of this subsection.
1.27
The section goes
on to stipulate that a person must not offer, possess or have control of food
that falls within subsection 137C(1). The explanatory memorandum describes
these as 'new civil penalty provisions'.[2]
However, neither the explanatory memorandum nor the statement of compatibility
provides further details about the procedure for imposing such a penalty, the
maximum possible penalty, or the factors that are to be taken into account in
assessing the amount of the penalty in a particular case.
1.28
As the committee
has previously noted in relation to civil penalty provisions, these types of
sanctions may give rise to questions of compatibility with articles 14 and 15
of the ICCPR, if they are viewed as 'criminal' for the purposes of human rights
law. The committee has indicated that a statement of compatibility should
address the issue of whether a particular civil penalty is 'criminal' for the
purposes of human rights law. If a penalty is found to be criminal, this has
implications for the appropriate procedures that are to be followed in imposing
it.
1.29
The
committee intends to write to Senator Milne to seek clarification on whether
the civil penalty provision in proposed new section 137C should be classified
as 'criminal' within the meaning of article 14 of the ICCPR.
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