Petition 2011/76 of Ben Dowdle

on behalf of Unmask Palm Oil

Report of the Commerce Committee


Contents
Recommendation 2
Introduction 2
Summary of petitioners concerns 2
Response from the Ministry for Primary Industries 3
Conclusion 3
Appendix 4

PETITION 2011/76 OF BEN DOWDLE ON BEHALF OF UNMASK PALM OIL
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Petition 2011/76 of Ben Dowdle on behalf of
Unmask Palm Oil
Recommendation
The Commerce Committee has considered the Petition 2011/76 of Ben Dowdle on behalf
of Unmask Palm Oil, and recommends that the House take note of its report.
Introduction
We have considered the Petition 2011/76 of Ben Dowdle on behalf of Unmask Palm Oil,
which was presented to the House on 30 August 2013 and then referred to the Commerce
Committee. The petition requests
that the House make mandatory the labelling of palm oil if used as an ingredient in
any product for sale in New Zealand, and note that 3,705 people have signed an
online petition supporting this request.
Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the fruit of oil palms, and is one of few
highly saturated vegetable fats. Palm oil is mostly used as an ingredient in food, and its
growing popularity in the food industry is attributed mostly to its low cost and the stability
of the refined product when frying. In addition, a number of palm-based oleochemicals are
used in consumer goods such as shampoos, lotions, and cleaning products.
The growing use of palm oil has led to the clearing of forests in parts of Indonesia and
Malaysia to make space for palm-oil monoculture. This has resulted in significant losses of
the natural habitat of the orangutan, and raised social and environmental concerns. The
Ministry for Primary Industries estimates that anything between 10 and 50 percent of
consumer products sold in New Zealand contain palm oil.
Summary of petitioners concerns
We heard from the petitioner Ben Dowdle, who represents Unmask Palm Oil, an
Australasian campaign for mandatory labelling of palm oil on consumer products. We were
told that the campaign is advocating the use of sustainable, certified palm oilnot a
boycott of the product.
Under current labelling laws in New Zealand and Australia, foods containing any vegetable
oils, including palm oil, can be labelled generically as containing vegetable oil. Mr
Dowdle is concerned that this makes it difficult for consumers to exercise choice if they
wish to avoid palm oil for health or ethical reasons. He recommended that all oils be
labelled in a bracketed list; for example vegetable oil might appear as an ingredient on a
label followed by a list of its sources: (soy, canola, and palm).
Unmask Palm Oil holds that consumers have a right to be informed about what they are
consuming, and that providing information is also good business practice. In New Zealand
and Australia distributors are required to provide information about the ingredients they
use on the product label, a website, or via a customer hotline. Mr Dowdle said that it can,
however, be difficult to find out which products contain palm oil; we were told that in one
case it took six hours to audit a typical pantry of food.
PETITION 2011/76 OF BEN DOWDLE ON BEHALF OF UNMASK PALM OIL
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We heard it argued that relying on voluntary labelling of palm oil can penalise companies
which choose to inform consumers, and mandatory labelling would create a level playing
field for businesses. Mr Dowdle drew attention to the fact that the United States have
made palm oil labelling mandatory, and the European Union will introduce a similar
requirement later in 2014.
Response from the Ministry for Primary Industries
We heard from the Ministry for Primary Industries about the food labelling regime. New
Zealand has a joint labelling system with Australia under Food Standards Australia New
Zealand (FSANZ). Current food standards require that palm oil be labelled if it is sold as a
food by itself; if it is present as an ingredient in food, it may be labelled as vegetable oil.
Under the food labelling hierarchy agreed by New Zealand and Australia, labelling of oils
and fats is mandatory when there is a high consumer risk or potential detriment; for
example allergenic oils such as peanut and soya are labelled to protect consumers.
However, for foods that are deemed to be lower in risk, voluntary or self-regulation is
preferred; companies may choose to label their products free range or palm oil free to
appeal to consumers values. Any such claims are regulated under the Fair Trading Act
1986. Compliance costs for businesses and the desirability of simple food labelling
requirements must also be taken into account when assessing whether labelling the source
of vegetable oils should be made mandatory.
We were told that work is being done under FSANZ to inform the 10 food Ministers in
Australia and New Zealand about refining the labelling of sugars, fats, and vegetable oils
added as ingredients to food, including the mandatory labelling of palm oil. A three-year
evaluation is expected to be completed in mid-2015, and Ministers to make decisions on
the basis of this advice.
Conclusion
The consumption of palm oil is an important consumer issue. To assist in our
consideration of this petition we requested further information from the Ministry for
Primary Industries as to how similar jurisdictions have approached the labelling of palm oil
in consumer products. We noted that in Canada tropical oils, such as palm oil, are required
to be labelled specifically because of their higher saturated fat content. In the United States
each individual oil ingredient of a food must be stated by name in order of its prevalence in
the food. Similarly, the European Union has adopted a law which will require all sources of
vegetable oil to be declared in the ingredients list of food labels. This law will come into
force in December 2014.
We consider that the concerns of the petitioner are relevant and important. However,
significant work is already under way at FSANZ, which we understand will address the
labelling of oils and sugars in products sold in both New Zealand and Australia. We await
the outcome of the review of food labelling, and the subsequent decisions of food
Ministers, with interest.


PETITION 2011/76 OF BEN DOWDLE ON BEHALF OF UNMASK PALM OIL
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Appendix
Committee procedure
The committee met on 19 September 2013, 3 July, and 24 July 2014 to consider this
petition. We received and considered two submissions from interested groups and
individuals. We heard evidence from the petitioner and the Ministry for Primary Industries.
Committee members
Jonathan Young (Chairperson)
Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi
Hon Clayton Cosgrove
Clare Curran
Kris Faafoi
Julie Anne Genter
Mark Mitchell
Hon Chris Tremain
Dr Jian Yang