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FT583
Consumers and markets need better
legal protection from the misuse of
‘country of origin’ labels on products,
a Victoria University of Wellington
study says. Led by Associate Professor
Samuel Becher and Dr Jessica Lai from
the University’s school of accounting
and commercial law, the research has
analysed legal cases on the mislabelling
of a product’s country of origin…
in particular, ‘Made in New Zealand’
labels. “We found the way courts impose
fines for misusing these labels lacks
consistency, and it seems that there is
no clear formula or systematic guidelines
that courts apply,” Lai says. “The fines
were at times less than the reported gains
of the misleading conduct. Therefore,
they don’t deter firms from misbehaving,
instead leaving them with a potential
profit-incentive to continue mislabelling.”
The correct use of labelling is crucial for
consumer trust and can have a significant
impact on purchasing decisions, Becher
says. “Trust is linked to healthier and
wealthier societies. The law should
be more vigilant to this. Disciplining
sellers who make false country of origin
statements is important for guaranteeing
proper functioning of markets and fair
competition. If sellers mislabel their
products, they gain an unfair advantage
vis-à-vis those traders who do not
cheat.” The Commerce Commission has
been looking at policing mislabelling
of country of origin statements, and
Parliament is considering a new Bill
regarding country of origin labelling for
food. Courts and policymakers should
consider the broader picture to better
understand how firms and consumers
behave. This will enable the development
of a more nuanced framework that can
guide courts on when, how, and why the
law should intervene. “The courts should
also take into account the contexts that
may provide greater incentive to mislabel
items ‘Made in New Zealand’—for
example, products predominantly sold
to tourists, like sheepskin, and valuable
export products that are sensitive to
dishonest behaviour, like Mānuka honey.”
GS Hall’s partnership with Synergy
Flavours is delivering advanced
solutions to customers. Creating
flavours which deliver impact and
enhance taste is core to Synergy’s
approach, and unique technologies
include its Lactic Yeast Extract
which is clean-label and derived
from natural cheese solids; and its
Dairy Flavour Solutions produced
from fresh cultured milk, cream and
butter - producing authentic natural
clean-label dairy flavours.
The taste solutions provide
a richer dairy taste with fuller
mouthfeel, masking of undesirable
notes, enhanced flavour and fat
reduction, with competitive cost in
use without impacting taste. These
spray-dried technologies are unique
to Synergy.
As a true global company with
multiple manufacturing and technical
facilities throughout the world,
Synergy is supporting GS Hall’s
approach in the New Zealand market
by way of offering products with
short lead-times and low MOQs,
ensuring easy accessibility to these
products. This is complemented
by world-leading technical support
and global market insights to assist
customers as they refine and
develop products.
www.foodtechnology.co.nz 37
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