Australia issues TM guidance for new food labelling laws
The Australian government has outlined trademark guidance for new legislation centring on food labelling.
The legislation, called Country of origin food labelling information standard 2016, has been implemented to make it clearer about where products are produced, grown, made or packed.
According to IP Australia, the country’s intellectual property office, food that is produced, grown or made in Australia will now have a green and yellow logo with a kangaroo. A text and a bar chart will show the percentage of Australian ingredients.
Businesses will need to update their labels and use the most appropriate label for each product to ensure consumers can make an informed decision about what to buy.
In an announcement today, June 20, IP Australia said the logo is a registered certification trademark, with a strict set of rules on how it can be used.
“Products must be registered with the Australian Made Campaign Limited and meet the criteria in the code of practice to use the logo.”
It added: “The use of the logo is different to registering it as or within a trademark. Use of the logo or bar charts or something that looks very similar to them will not be acceptable to register as or within a trademark.”
The new regulations come into force on July 1.
