1
00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:02,360
Speaker 1: Right next cab off the old slashing of red tape.

2
00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:06,520
Speaker 1: Rank is labeling laws. Currently there's around thirty laws requiring

3
00:00:06,559 --> 00:00:09,319
Speaker 1: important goods to meet our packaging standards, essentially driving away

4
00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:12,480
Speaker 1: competition ads cost of both business and consumers. Anyway, Catherine

5
00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:15,000
Speaker 1: Rich's the boss ad Business New zealand And is with us.

6
00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:18,000
Speaker 1: Good morning, good morning. Of all the issues in your area,

7
00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:20,239
Speaker 1: where does this labeling business fit? Do you think?

8
00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:23,520
Speaker 2: Look, I know it sounds like a really dry topic,

9
00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:26,680
Speaker 2: but it's a multi billion dollar issue for New Zealand.

10
00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:30,840
Speaker 2: So many products require labels and it is time to

11
00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:34,800
Speaker 2: look at the things that New Zealand expects companies to

12
00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:37,360
Speaker 2: do and just test it, Just to look at what

13
00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:41,680
Speaker 2: are we asking what's important to have on a label

14
00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:44,559
Speaker 2: and what's not because so many things have to be

15
00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:48,760
Speaker 2: repackaged or resticked for New Zealand, and in many cases

16
00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:53,400
Speaker 2: it's completely unnecessary and could be done well. The information

17
00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:56,720
Speaker 2: could be imparted by an E label or QR code

18
00:00:56,760 --> 00:00:57,640
Speaker 2: not on the sticker.

19
00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:01,440
Speaker 1: All right, two claims Yesterday Semore said the chemist Warehouse

20
00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:05,720
Speaker 1: employees a person to do nothing but check labels. Is

21
00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:07,600
Speaker 1: that true and if it is, would they be the

22
00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:11,120
Speaker 1: only company and why has it got this bad look.

23
00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:14,080
Speaker 2: This is an issue for any company that markets something

24
00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:17,919
Speaker 2: that requires a label. So it's not just phymaceuticals. It's food,

25
00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,120
Speaker 2: it's beer and wine, it's clothing, it's everything. And there

26
00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:24,160
Speaker 2: are some very good reasons for labels, of course, things

27
00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:28,080
Speaker 2: like warnings, hazards, allergens. But over a period of time,

28
00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:33,480
Speaker 2: New Zealand has introduced some bespoke rules which require overstickering

29
00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:36,959
Speaker 2: for reasons that aren't really necessary. There are lots of

30
00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:41,880
Speaker 2: other legitimate labeling jurisdictions around the world. We should look

31
00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:46,880
Speaker 2: towards greater mutual recognition. Wine's a good example. You might

32
00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:49,920
Speaker 2: have noticed on if you're buying a bottle of French

33
00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:53,560
Speaker 2: or Spanish wine, it might have an ugly white sticker

34
00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:56,840
Speaker 2: on it in addition to its beautiful bottle. That's because

35
00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:00,600
Speaker 2: New Zealand has some rules which the less the world

36
00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:06,680
Speaker 2: doesn't follow. I think the Ministry of Regulation is going

37
00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:09,040
Speaker 2: to do some important work. It is a multi billion

38
00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:12,840
Speaker 2: dollar issue. It's not to take away information for consumers.

39
00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:15,200
Speaker 2: It's just a test what should be on the label

40
00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:18,320
Speaker 2: and what could be better delivered by a QR code

41
00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:19,440
Speaker 2: or something online.

42
00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:21,800
Speaker 1: Other claim yesterday was if you do it properly, you

43
00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:23,760
Speaker 1: can lower the cost of a product. Therefore the cost

44
00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:25,240
Speaker 1: of living gets cheaper. True or not?

45
00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:29,960
Speaker 2: Yes, that is true. There have been examples in New

46
00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:33,000
Speaker 2: Zealand where you know, even though we're a market the

47
00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:37,240
Speaker 2: size of Melbourne, we ask companies to either repack or

48
00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:42,920
Speaker 2: oversticker for to deliver information that's could be delivered in

49
00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:46,079
Speaker 2: another way. It does add cost because you've physically got

50
00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:49,880
Speaker 2: to have someone over stickering, or in many cases you're

51
00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:52,640
Speaker 2: asking a company to do a very short production run

52
00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:56,320
Speaker 2: which is often uneconomic or ads cost. And the other

53
00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:00,440
Speaker 2: issue is that many companies are not the other making

54
00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:03,440
Speaker 2: one of two decisions. One they're going to the cost

55
00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:06,720
Speaker 2: of doing this three packaging, or two they're deciding not

56
00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:09,600
Speaker 2: to come to our market at all. And during the

57
00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:12,200
Speaker 2: time I ran the Pudent Grocery Council, I saw that

58
00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:17,040
Speaker 2: a lot sometimes Medsafe or MPI would ask for a

59
00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:19,840
Speaker 2: rule to be implemented and the company would just decide

60
00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:22,240
Speaker 2: on not launching a New Zealand at or and that

61
00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:26,960
Speaker 2: means less choice for consumers and not having the access

62
00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:28,000
Speaker 2: to the latest innovation.

63
00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:30,080
Speaker 1: Yeah all right, Catherine, go well, have a good weekend.

64
00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:31,880
Speaker 1: Katherine Richard, Business New Zealand cy

65
00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:35,640
Speaker 2: For more from the mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to

66
00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:38,840
Speaker 2: news talks that'd be from six am weekdays, or follow

67
00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:40,400
Speaker 2: the podcast on iHeartRadio