The Chairperson of the Primary Production Committee, Hon David Bennett, is calling for public submissions on the Organic Products Bill, which was referred to the committee on 19 March 2020.

Under the current framework, New Zealand businesses that make organic claims can choose whether or not to be certified to one of a range of private standards with different requirements. This creates inconsistency in organic claims and confusion for consumers.

The bill aims to:

· improve consumers’ confidence when purchasing organic products

· propose a regime to regulate organic claims and the businesses that make them

· increase certainty for businesses claiming that their products are organic

· facilitate international trade in organic products.

The bill will create consistency amongst organic claims and outlines the processes businesses would have to follow for approval to market their products as organic, and national standards for production rules organic businesses would have to follow.

Tell the Primary Production Committee what you think

Make a submission on the bill by midnight on 29 April 2020.

For more details about the bill:

· Read the full content of the bill

· Get more details about the bill

· What’s been said in Parliament about the bill?

· Follow the committee’s Facebook page for updates
 

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