17 December 2024

Communication this week from the Department of Health and Aged Care shows there has been slow progress on the FSANZ Act Review since the close of public consultation on the draft Impact Analysis in April 2024. 

17 December 2024

The Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, the Hon Dr Andrew Leigh MP has released an explanatory note for the Competition and Consumer (Industry Codes – Food and Grocery) Regulation 2024. The new mandatory Code gives effect to all the recommendations in Emerson’s Review and will come into effect on 1 April 2025.

12 December 2024

Australia’s Environment Ministers convened to address critical national issues in advancing Australia’s circular economy and nature positive transition.

2 December 2024

The legislation to introduce penalties into the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct has passed Parliament, and will come into effect from 1 April 2025.

26 November 2024

The AFGC is dedicated to highlighting industry initiatives that promote healthier diets. We are calling on members to share examples of their contributions to improving nutrition and support balanced diets. 

20 November 2024

Food Ministers met last Friday where they discussed key priorities for the food regulatory system in the coming 12 -24 months. Further to the official communique, the AFGC provides the following summary and insights. 

1 November 2024

The AFGC’s submission in response to the ACCC’s supermarkets inquiry interim report is now available on the AFGC Member Portal (you will need to be logged in to access). It will be published on the inquiry website in the coming days.

22 October 2024

We would like to share a submission template to assist you in streamlining your contribution to DCCEEW’s Packaging Reform Consultation process.  

11 October 2024

Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) has opened a public consultation on options to reform Australia’s packaging regulation. The consultation closes on 28 October 2024.

8 October 2024

The AFGC attended a meeting Tuesday 1 October of the Bi-National Food Industry Dialogue (BFID), where Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) provided an update on their scoping work on improving front- and back-of pack nutrition labelling.  

30 September 2024

The Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) is currently seeking expressions of interest from our members to be considered for the AFGC Board.

27 September 2024

This has been a big week for supermarket scrutiny, even by the standards of what we’ve become accustomed to in 2024.  

23 September 2024

AFGC is pleased to announce the continuation of its successful partnership with ASN Media for the next season of the online content series ‘Sustaining Australia TV (SATV)’. 

17 September 2024

The NSW Government has released NSW Plastics: The Way Forward – a plan to reduce problematic and single-use plastic.

20 August 2024

The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) has released its 2030 Strategic Plan, outlining a proposed path forward for achieving the National Packaging Targets.

16 August 2024

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) recently issued a media statement outlining a package of work on nutrition labelling standards they are progressing to improve consumers’ ability to make more informed and healthier dietary choices.

12 August 2024

The Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) has provided an update on the Exposure Draft ED SR1 Australian Sustainability Reporting Standards (ASRS) – Disclosure of Climate-related Financial Information. These standards included ASRS 1 and ASRS 2.  

2 August 2024

Woolworths Group has updated their Single Use & Reusable Plastic Policy to include a national ban on integrated single use plastic items in packaging as of 1st January 2025.

25 July 2024

On Thursday 25 July, the Food Ministers’ Meeting (FMM) met, issuing a communique on key outcomes.  

23 July 2024

As you may be aware, a global IT outage occurred on Friday due to a software update from the cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike.

9 July 2024

In late June, Treasury released its final report from the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct (the Code) review led by The Hon Dr Craig Emerson.

8 July 2024

The ACCC has released a draft guide on sustainability collaborations and Australian competition law to assist businesses in understanding the competition law risks involved in working together for environmental outcomes.  

4 July 2024

The House Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport, chaired by Dr Mike Freelander MP, has tabled its report on the state of diabetes mellitus in Australia. 

28 June 2024

The AFGC and a member company were approached last week by a business journalist from the ABC requesting an on-camera interview to respond to a story on preventive health issues including a food tax, changes to front-of-pack labelling to include food processing as a criterion, and marketing restrictions of ‘junk’ food.  

24 June 2024

Today Treasury has released its final report from the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct review led by The Hon Dr Craig Emerson. As anticipated, the report affirms many of the recommendations made in April’s interim report

21 June 2024

Today, Federal Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek, chaired a meeting of Australia’s Environment Ministers. The meeting provided an update on pathways for soft plastic collection, end-market development for recycled products and design standards.

20 June 2024

The Australian government has released the Sustainable Finance Roadmap (the roadmap) to boost private capital in sustainable finance. The roadmap helps investors, companies, and the broader community make net zero transition decisions.

17 June 2024

The Australian Food and Grocery Council has today announced a change in its Board leadership with Darren O’Brien, President Australia, New Zealand and Japan of Mondelez stepping down from the role of Chair at the end of the current financial year, and Anthony Holme, Managing Director of Kellanova, formerly Kellogg’s, taking on the role from 1 July 2024.

30 May 2024

On 1 February Treasurer Jim Chalmers directed the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to conduct a comprehensive price inquiry into the supermarket sector, as per subsection 95H of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Act).  

28 May 2024

In October 2022, an inquiry into marine plastic pollution began with the AFGC making a submission calling on a harmonised and sensible approach to tackling plastic in Australia’s oceans.

9 May 2024

On 6 December 2023, the Senate Select Committee on Supermarket Prices was established to inquire into the price-setting practices and market power of major supermarkets in Australia.  

7 May 2024

Last Friday 3 May, the Food Ministers’ Meeting (FMM) met and issued a communique on key outcomes.

29 April 2024

Recycling and repurposing soft plastics is a priority for the food and grocery manufacturing sector to be able to play its part in creating a circular economy.  

23 April 2024

Last week there were some major developments for soft plastics recycling in Australia. While not all were positive, there remains an exciting future for domestic soft plastics recycling. Importantly, our industry-led soft plastic recycling scheme has been developed with end markets in mind and governance throughout, despite the challenges along the way.   

8 April 2024

The review of the Code of Conduct led by Dr Craig Emerson has released its interim report today, which reflects many of the AFGC’s recommendations to strengthen the Code and the disputes process.  

20 February 2024

The Food Ministers’ Meeting (FMM) on Friday 1 December agreed to changes to the Food Standards Code (the Code) incorporating a revised definition of added sugars (P1062).

20 February 2024

The AFGC has released the Food and Grocery Export Growth Strategy which identifies the opportunities and policy recommendations required to deliver the export growth needed to double the size of the Australian food and grocery (AFG) sector by 2030. 

20 February 2024

Two important updates regarding the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct (FGCC) have been announced by the government today. 

20 February 2024

The federal government has initiated a public consultation on the conclusive policy design for corporate climate-related financial disclosure requirements. The proposed framework, outlined in draft legislation amending the Australian Securities and Investment Commission Act 2001 and the Corporations Act 2001, introduces standardised reporting mandates for businesses.  

20 February 2024

We are pleased to provide you with an update on the recent developments within the soft plastic space and key advancements related to the Retailers Return to Store (RtS) collection. Additionally, this briefing provides an update on the progress of the National Plastic Recycling Scheme (NPRS) scheme.