Time for Mr Common Sense to be Mr CoOL

The only thing standing in the way of Kiwis knowing where their food comes from could be the vote of United Future leader Peter Dunne, Labour’s Food Safety spokesperson Damien O’Connor says.

“Parliament will this afternoon vote on my amendment to the Food bill which would introduce a Country of Origin Labelling (CoOL) system, making it mandatory for manufacturers to tell consumers where their food comes from.

“I have the support of the Māori Party, the Greens and New Zealand First, meaning Peter Dunne’s vote is crucial.

“It is unpatriotic for Peter Dunne to stop New Zealanders knowing whether they are buying foreign products over New Zealand grown food and supporting their fellow Kiwis.

“The Government is spending $700 million to ‘add value to food systems’ yet National refuses to back the introduction of CoOL.

“The investigation into the botulism contamination scare, run out of Peter Dunne’s own ministry – the Department of Internal Affairs – recommended the ‘development of options to provide foreign markets with the assurance of authenticity” of New Zealand manufacturing.

“It’s a pity Peter Dunne won’t give Kiwis the same assurances our overseas markets get.

“CoOL not only gives Kiwis the chance to buy locally grown and produced food, it also gives our foreign consumers the opportunity to buy our quality products. Sadly Peter Dunne doesn’t have the common sense to be CoOL,” Damien O’Connor.

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