Restaurants exempted from origin rules

From tomorrow, new mandatory country of origin labelling will be on display on labels and shop stalls.

It’s a system that leaves the consumer in no doubt what food comes from Australia and what doesn’t.

However, it does not extend to the hospitality industry, and that has raised a number of concerns.

And non-priority foods — such as lollies, biscuits, soft drinks and alcohol — will not require country of origin labelling after government research found that consumers don’t really care about the origins of these foodstuffs.

Some restaurants see country of original labelling as something that would give them a competitive advantage.

One example is Barangaroo House in Sydney.

Chef Cory Campbell says it’s what his customers want.

"We have people coming from overseas who have heard of [Australian Barramundi] and it's something we can really showcase, because it is an icon," Campbell told the ABC.

"People come to Australia and they go 'wow, you have such a variety of seafood', so let's showcase it."

"It is something we should really care about, not just from the hospitality side, but from an Australian point of view."

Seafood Industry Council of Australia knows all about consumer demand for Australian-sourced barramundi.

"The majority of your imported internationally sourced barramundi … it's not headed for retail markets, it's headed for food service," the council's chair-elect Veronica Papapcosta told the ABC.

"I think consumers have a right to know and they will make a discerning choice."

Dr Ken Chapman, president of the Australian Barramundi Farmers' Association, said people in restaurants should know where their food was coming from.

"Two thirds of all seafood is imported into Australia, and that's a big issue, particularly in the case on barramundi," Ken Chapman told the ABC.

"If you see it on a menu, people assume it is Australian, because it is such an iconic fish … You've got no way of knowing."

Leon Getler 3rd July 2018