CONSUMERS will now be told where their unpackaged meat comes from under mandatory country of origin labelling.
Last month the Legislative and Governance Forum on Food Regulation approved the extension of the mandatory country of origin labelling requirements in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code to unpackaged beef, sheep and chicken meat.
Under the ruling, businesses will display a sign for Australian-produced products while imported products will be specifically labelled.
This builds on the Code's existing requirements for most packaged and certain unpackaged food, such as processed fruit and vegetables.
A Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry spokesperson said based on data provided by ABARES, 4500 tonnes of beef and veal were imported into Australia in 2011-2012, 900 tonnes of sheep meat and 10.08 tonnes of chicken meat, while pork was the largest category of imported meat with 136,710 tonnes.
