Government refuses domestic organic regulation

The Australian Government has decided not to implement domestic regulation of the organic industry (link).

Following several years of industry consultation, and after two cost-benefit analyses found the costs would outweigh the benefits, the Agriculture Minister Senator Murray Watt said “While a mandatory domestic standard could provide a range of potential benefits for organic sector, the costs of designing, monitoring and enforcing an economy-wide regulatory scheme of this nature would be significant. 

“In making this decision we’ve carefully examined the evidence and released multiple reports on the matter.

“These reports show that the absence of a domestic organic regulatory framework does not and will not in the future impact international trade in Australian organic products.

“In fact, the Albanese Government will continue to support the growth of export markets for Australian organic produce.

“I appreciate the effort that representatives of the organics industry have put into this issue.

“In the end though, I am not going to impose costly changes that outweigh the benefits to industry and consumers.”