LAX labelling laws allow juice made from imported orange concentrate to be labelled “made in Australia’’ because it includes local water, an inquiry has been told.

A parliamentary committee chaired by South Australian Liberal MP Rowan Ramsey is examining country-of-origin labelling laws amid concerns that up to 90 per cent of consumers misunderstand the “Made in Australia’’ claim.

Citrus Australia SA Region chairman Con Poulos told the inquiry that clever marketers were manipulating labelling rules to the detriment of consumers and farmers.

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Mr Poulos said “vague’’ laws allowed juice manufacturers to fill containers with mostly imported products and label them as being made from local and imported ingredients.

“The current legislation also allows a product that has over 50 per cent of their weighted content produced in Australia to legally have ‘Made in Australia’ on their label,’’ Mr Poulos said in a submission to the inquiry.

“In the case of juice, this could include the water to mix the imported concentrate and the container it is sold in.’’

Riverland growers had once supplied 180,000 tonnes of valencia oranges for juicing each year, but increased imports of Brazilian concentrate had seen this fall to 50,000 tonnes.

South Australian Labor MP Amanda Rishworth said constituents had complained to her about a lack of information on food labels about where ingredients had been imported from.

“Consumers who wish to access competitive information about food products in order to satisfy information about food products in order to satisfy health requirements and their own personal value system often find that the current regime is inadequate to meet their needs,’’ Ms Rishworth said.

Australian pork producers were concerned that bacon made in Australia with imported pork could be labelled as Australian-made.

But other products manufactured using mostly local ingredients could be denied the label because they used a small number of elements that could not be sourced locally.

The committee was told there were concerns about goods being imported into Australia from New Zealand which contained ingredients from third countries with less stringent food-safety laws.

These were simply packaged or processed in New Zealand, but still labelled “made in New Zealand’’ and experts told the inquiry this would be a breach of New Zealand laws.

Australian seafood producers wanted country-of-origin laws to be applied to foods sold in restaurants.

This would enable diners to reject seafood from countries that did not follow environmentally sustainable or good health practices.

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Originally published as How ‘made in Australia’ juice can be the opposite