Member for The Entrance David Mehan has met with the Professional Fishers Association, Seafood Industry Australia and the office of the Minister for Industry and Trade, to continue his support and advocacy for the introduction of mandatory Country-Of-Origin Labelling (COOL) on seafood.
Mehan introduced a Private Member’s Bill on seafood COOL to the NSW Parliament in 2017, but it was defeated at the time.
In October 2022, the Federal Labor Government committed $1.6M to introduce COOL, which will make it mandatory for restaurants, cafes and similar businesses to display seafood origin information, to allow consumers to make an informed decision about the seafood they choose to eat.
The Federal Government will soon meet with state and territory consumer ministers to seek their agreement on this change to the Australian Consumer Law.
“I am a big supporter of the Australian seafood industry and hope to finally see the introduction of mandatory COOL by the end of the year,” Mehan said.
“We have waited long enough for this change.
“Everyone should know the origin of their seafood when they eat at a restaurant, pub or hotel and we should be supporting our local seafood industries where we can.”
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Member for The Entrance David Mehan