Country of Origin Labelling (CoOL) could soon expand to seafood and pre-packed cut flowers, with the extension to be contemplated in a review of the CoOL regulation by the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources.

The review will examine the impacts of the existing system and look at ways to make CoOL more consistent and more informative to consumers.

The move would likely benefit ongoing efforts to curb biosecurity risks entering the country, and further address the unacceptably high levels of non-compliance of imported cut flowers from high risk countries, which threaten Australia’s $70 billion agriculture industry.

Meanwhile as of Sunday, leading fast-food retailer McDonald’s voluntarily introduced to display CoOL information on its products – a decision that AUSVEG welcomes.