9 results

Discussion Papers on seafood traceability and labelling

Project number: 2020-093
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $33,000.00
Principal Investigator: Meaghan Dodd
Organisation: Intuitive Food Solutions
Project start/end date: 13 Dec 2020 - 7 Feb 2021
Contact:
FRDC

Need

FRDC have identified this topic is gaining momentum across the food industry including seafood, and this proposal will support FRDC to be prepared for future discussions and potential industry changes and support.

Objectives

1. What is traceability
2. Understand the current Australian legal requirements for seafood traceability and labelling
3. Understand current seafood traceability methods available including any in development
4. Traceability impacts on product categories
5. Identify improvement areas

Report

Author: Ewan Colquhoun
Report • 2021-10-25

Summary

All food sold in Australia must comply with the Food Standards Code.  Food label claims are subject to Australian Consumer Law, prohibiting false, misleading or deceptive behaviour.
 
Australian seafood consumers face existing risks and confusion regarding species, nomenclature, and product misrepresentation.
 
The imminent launch of cellular meat and seafood, now being debated globally by producers and regulators, will offer new benefits to consumers.  But there are risks.  If the Australian seafood industry mishandles these challenges, we will compound existing product misrepresentation and seafood fraud.  A Senate Committee is currently assessing the risks and options across meat and seafood consumer products.  
 
This discussion paper updates the issues, challenges and relevant laws, to suggest options and risks going forward.  It is a living document which attempts to reflect a very dynamic food labelling environment.  This report is to be used as a first version working document, with further updates to occur every 12-18 months.
 
Final Report • 2021-12-31 • 742.64 KB
2020-093-DLD-Part A-Seafood Traceability Discussion Paper.pdf

Summary

There are two parts to project 2020-093: Discussion Papers on seafood traceability and labelling

TRACEABILITY – PART A
Seafood is one of the most traded food commodities in the world, and has a complex supply chain not just domestically, but globally with further pressures due to COVID-19 impacts. As such, traceability can be a minefield to navigate, but is necessary to build customer and end consumer trust while protecting your brand. 

Within Australia, Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ), the regulatory body, requires a ‘one up and one down’ approach of tracing food products. ‘One up’ is where the business sold its outward goods to (a customer), and ‘one down’ is where the inward goods came from (a supplier). Internationally, there has been a shift in this approach towards ‘end-to-end’ supply chain traceability, with some calling it ‘bait to plate’. 

Traceability has become a fundamental part of Australian Government policy, with the newly published National Agricultural Innovation Policy Statement October 2021 detailing four priority focus areas. In particular, priorities one, three and four focus on building world-class traceability systems that provide confidence and assurance of Australian product(s) sold from catch/farm through to the end consumer both domestically and internationally. 

A discussion paper has been compiled by Ms Meaghan Dodd (Innovative Food Solutions) that defines traceability; explains why it is important; identifies barriers to adoption; documents laws, standards and guidelines; describes traceability element, systems and technologies; and suggests recommended actions and associated risks going forward. This paper is a living document that attempts to capture the complex and dynamic traceability environment. 
 
LABELLING – PART B
All food sold in Australia must comply with the Food Standards Code. Food label claims are subject to Australian Consumer Law, prohibiting false, misleading or deceptive behaviour.
 
Australian seafood consumers face existing risks and confusion regarding species, nomenclature, and product misrepresentation.
 
The imminent launch of cellular meat and seafood, now being debated globally by producers and regulators, will offer new benefits to consumers. But there are risks. If the Australian seafood industry mishandles these challenges, we will compound existing product misrepresentation and seafood fraud. A Senate Committee is currently assessing the risks and options across meat and seafood consumer products.
 
A discussion paper (with summary) has been compiled by Mr Ewan Colquhoun (Ridge Partners Consultants and Advisers) that updates the issues, challenges and relevant laws, to suggest options and risks going forward. It is a living document which attempts to reflect a very dynamic food labelling environment. 
 
The two discussion papers will be used as first version working documents, with further updates to occur every 12-18 months. 

Project products

Industry

Completing Australia’s First National Bycatch Report

Project number: 2018-114
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $165,000.00
Principal Investigator: Steve J. Kennelly
Organisation: IC Independent Consulting Pty Ltd
Project start/end date: 31 Dec 2018 - 30 Dec 2019
Contact:
FRDC

Need

In the recently completed project 2015/208 “Developing a National Bycatch Reporting System”, we derived estimates of bycatch and discards for 4 case-study jurisdictions (with associated variances) as well as metrics regarding the quality of the data used. The jurisdictions done were New South Wales, Tasmania, Queensland and the Northern Territory. But that work completed only half the story. This present project is to complete the task by applying the methodology developed in the previous project to the remaining 4 jurisdictions: The Commonwealth, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. By adding estimates from these jurisdictions to those derived earlier, this current project will produce the first complete, national bycatch report for the country. An advantage with this approach is that the new project will only cost a fraction of that of the previous project because most of the development work is complete. The result will be Australia's First National Bycatch Report and a process by which Australia's (and the world's) stakeholders can monitor and track Australia's management of bycatch. This should improve the standing of our fisheries internationally, to various eco-labelling organisations and the general public.

Objectives

1. Collect, synthesis and analyse catch, effort and bycatch data from the Commonwealth, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia
2. Derive bycatch estimates for general discards and ETP species, with associated variances and quality metrics for each jurisdiction
3. Combine the estimates from 2 above with those from the previous project to produce Australia's first National Bycatch Report

Final report

ISBN: 978-0-9924930-9-7
Author: Steven J Kennelly
Final Report • 2020-11-30 • 378.05 KB
2018-114-DLD.pdf

Summary

Bycatch (non-targeted organisms that are unintentionally caught when fishing for particular species or sizes of species) remains an important issue concerning the world’s fisheries. Discards are considered the most important component of bycatch because they represent a perceived wastage of seafood resources as well as the potential to include Threatened, Endangered and Protected Species (TEPS), attracting significant interest and controversy from many stakeholders. There is now growing acceptance and international, regional and national agreements and instruments that encourage and/or require governments to report on the status of bycatches.

This report that arose from this project and its precursor “Developing a National Bycatch Reporting System” (FRDC Project 2015-208) constitutes Australia’s first national attempt to report on bycatch from its commercial fisheries. It is the result of the application of a 5-step methodology developed in the first project.
This project has yielded: (i) a baseline to be used by Australia in the future to track performance in managing discards, TEPS interactions and the quality of its bycatch information; (ii) the identification of key gaps in information where future work to monitor and reduce discards should focus; and (iii) a methodology that may be used by other countries and jurisdictions to estimate and report on bycatch to various entities and processes including stock assessments, Ecosystem-based Fisheries Management initiatives, FAO’s Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, assessments by eco-labelling organisations, the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy and its Landing Obligation, as well as the most important stakeholders of all – the perpetual owners of all fisheries discards and TEPS – the general public.

Project products

Report • 2020-11-30 • 2.36 MB
2018-114 Australia's First National Bycatch Report.pdf

Summary

This report constitutes Australia’s first national attempt to report on bycatch from its commercial fisheries. It is the result of the application of the following 5-step methodology:
1. Identify all individual fisheries (and the fishing methods used in them) for each jurisdiction and the annual landings for each. Express these data as averages with associated standard errors (SEs).
2. Gather all available papers, reports and datasets on fisheries discards and TEPS interactions in each jurisdiction. From these, derive retained:discard ratios for each fishery/method and express these as averages (if multiple ratios exist) with associated SEs.
3. For those fisheries/methods that lack ratios in Step 2, identify and include any substitute ratios from similar fisheries/methods from other jurisdictions.
4. Multiply the average ratios from Steps 2 and 3 by the average landings data from Step 1 to obtain total estimated annual discards for each fishery/method and add these together to get jurisdictional totals with appropriate SEs.
5. Apply the steps in the USA’s Tier Classification Scheme 
 
This report has yielded: (i) a baseline to be used by Australia’s jurisdictions in the future to track performance in managing discards, TEPS interactions and the quality of bycatch information; (ii) the identification of key gaps in information where future work to monitor and reduce discards should focus; and (iii) a methodology that may be used by other countries and jurisdictions to estimate and report on bycatch to various entities and processes including stock assessments, Ecosystem-based Fisheries Management initiatives, FAO’s Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, assessments by eco-labelling organisations, the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy and its Landing Obligation, as well as the most important stakeholders of all – the perpetual owners of all fisheries discards and TEPS – the general public. 
Adoption
PROJECT NUMBER • 2017-065
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Disseminating existing bycatch reduction and fuel efficiency technologies throughout Australia's prawn fisheries

Prawn trawling is among the world's least selective fishing methods, the unintended consequence being large quantities of bycatch. It is also a method that can disturb benthic habitats and use large quantities of fuel—a significant running cost for many fisheries. Issues of bycatch and fuel...
ORGANISATION:
IC Independent Consulting Pty Ltd
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 2016-261
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Investigating the use of trace element profiles to substantiate provenance for the Australian prawn industry

In 2015 industry stakeholders from the Australian Council of Prawn Fishers (ACPF) and the Australian Prawn Farmers Association (APFA) identified the potential for the "Love Australian Prawns" (LAP) campaign to be undermined by the practice of unscrupulous operators substituting Australian prawns...
ORGANISATION:
Curtin University

FRDC Resource: Development and ongoing maintenance of Australian Fish Names Standard 2019-2020

Project number: 2018-006
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $207,551.00
Principal Investigator: Alan J. Snow
Organisation: Alan Snow Konsulting
Project start/end date: 30 Jun 2019 - 29 Sep 2020
Contact:
FRDC

Need

All Australian Standards developed by FRDC will demonstrate a net benefit and therefore have an overall positive impact on Australia’s seafood industry. This means that all FRDC developed Australian Standards must provide a value or benefit that exceeds the costs to the seafood industry with associated action plans to implement continuous improvement to ensure this is met.

Public, consumer and stakeholder confidence is vital to the well-being of Australia’s seafood industry.

Australian Standards are not legal documents. However, when a government references a standard in legislation, it becomes mandatory. An Australian Standard does have status and is recognised as being a credible document. Usage of the names included in the Australian Fish Names Standard is not mandated in Australia but is listed in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code - Standard 2.2.3 - Fish and Fish Products as an advisory note (see https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2011C00569)

Standard fish names removes confusion, strengthens consumer confidence, creates market efficiencies and consistency, underpins effective fisheries monitoring and improves management of food fraud / food safety.

The use of standard fish names achieves outcomes that are consistent with the aims of industry and governments:
1 Improved monitoring and stock assessment enhances the sustainability of fisheries resources.
2 Increased consistency and efficiency in seafood marketing to improve consumer confidence and industry profitability.
3 Improved accuracy and consistency in trade descriptions enables consumers to make more informed choices when purchasing seafood and reduces the potential for misleading and deceptive conduct.
4 More efficient management of seafood related public health incidents and food safety through improved labelling and species identification reduces public health risk.

Within the next decade, the AFNS must:
• Be all inclusive including increased stakeholder awareness
• Improve the AFNS database to ensure all data is current
• Meet stakeholder expectation
• Be world’s best practice
• Be a national benchmark for sustainability
• Be part of an ongoing continuous improvement processes
• Be a transparent process to create trust

Objectives

1. Ensure FRDC maintains accreditation as a Standards Development Organisation through audits from the Standards Development Advisory Committee
2. Continue to promote and provide advice on the content and uptake of Australian Fish Names Standard and other FRDC developed standards to the broader seafood industry and government through strategic submissions and presentations to government in consultation with FRDC
3. Evaluate and implement the recommendations from the draft “Report on Stakeholder Consultation about the Australian Fish Names Standard and the Associated Processes” conducted in 2018 to ensure the AFNS continues to meet stakeholder needs and expectations
4. Continually improve the content and relevance of the Australian Fish Names Standard AS 5300 and underlying procedures to meet market, regulator and stakeholder needs and expectations.

Report

ISBN: 978-0-6450899-1-2
Author: Alan J Snow
Report • 2021-06-21 • 1.83 MB
2018-006-DLD.pdf

Summary

This project focuses on the ongoing development and maintenance of the Australian Fish Names Standard. Initiated by Seafood Services Australia in 1999, the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) took carriage of the development of the Fish Names Standard in 2013. Initial accreditation of FRDC by Standards Australia was conducted on 11 September 2013; intellectual property of the Australian Fish Names Standard was formally transferred on 11 October 2013; and the first FRDC Fish Names Committee (FNC) was held on 12th November 2013.

This work builds on the following FRDC funded projects:
• 2012-209, “Develop and promote the Australian Fish Names Standard (AS-5300) and ensurereaccreditation as a Standards Development Organisation [Michelle Christoe, SSA Executive Officer–novated to
  (2012-209.40) Alan Snow Konsulting].
• FRDC 2012-209.40, “Develop and promote the Australian Fish Names Standard (AS-5300) andensure reaccreditation as a Standards Development Organisation” [Alan Snow Konsulting]
• FRDC 2015-210, “FRDC resource: Australian Fish Names Standard (AS-5300)” [Alan Snow Konsulting].

The operating procedures of the Fish Names Committee have continued to improve, and proposed amendments have been evaluated in a highly rigorous and professional manner.

The list of approved names in the Australian Fish Names Standard has continued to expand to meet stakeholder needs through harmonising with the Status of Australian Fish Stocks (SAFS) reports and the addition of commercially important invertebrate species.

It has been twenty years since the Fish Names process commenced through Seafood Services Australia (SSA). As such, it is an opportunity to consider what has been achieved in twenty years and what is still to be achieved.
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 2018-176
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Refine the Southern Rock Lobster Cold Chain

What the report is about? The report aims to assist the Southern Rock Lobster (SRL) industry with refining the live export supply chain to China. Research has identified issues relating to the cold chain, particularly at the domestic air freight stage, and practical solutions have then been...
ORGANISATION:
KPMG Australia Melbourne
Industry