KEY POINTS:
A nationwide petition and campaign calling for mandatory country of origin labelling on some foods has been launched today.
Green MP Sue Kedgley, who is behind the campaign, said mandatory labelling was needed on meat, seafood, fruit, vegetables and other items, such as canned food.
She said some countries' standards were not what consumers would expect - for example California's health department has just told customers not to buy Chinese ginger because it might containing a dangerous pesticide. New Zealand imported 165 tonnes of ginger from China last year.
"People want to know where the food they buy, eat and feed their families comes from," she said.
"Many New Zealanders are unaware that we are now importing nearly 1.5 million tonnes of food a year, including 149,462 tonnes of fruit, 32,207 tonnes of meat and 39,996 tonnes of vegetables."
Ms Kedgley said 10,694 tonnes of lamb and beef were imported last year and 40 per cent of all pork were sold with no indication of source.
Ms Kedgley said many other nations had mandatory country of origin labelling.
"There are a multitude of reasons why New Zealanders want to know where their food comes from. Some people want to support local producers, others like to avoid food from countries with a poor safety record," she said.
"The Government's opposition to mandatory country of origin labelling is inexplicable. Surely we have a right to know whether we are eating an Australian leg of lamb or a New Zealand one - or Chinese or New Zealand garlic."
Recently there have been scandals about unsafe food from China including contaminated seafood and problems with pesticides and illegal levels of additives.
In Parliament last month Food Safety Minister Annette King said the New Zealand Food Safety Authority's (NZFSA) tested foods that came into New Zealand.
It had not found problems with Chinese imports.
- NZPA
