MEDIA RELEASE – TFGA
“Only the national government can enforce brand reputation in Australia. In our view it is not protecting the concept of brand. The legislative framework for brand protection throughout Australia must be reviewed and updated. While country-of-origin labelling protection is clear, the same cannot be said for place names within Australia.
“Our reading of the Trade Practices Act is that the provisions covering false or misleading representation are not clear in terms of the consequences concerning the place-of-origin of goods when the place of origin is not defined as being part of the country, state, city or town.
“In states like Tasmania the issue of identity is vital. The situation on King Island exemplifies the problems we face.”
MEDIA RELEASE
Protect the Tasmanian Brand – Oldfield
Dated: 8 May 2009
The Tasmanian Brand, the state’s point of difference with its competitors, was its most important asset yet was unprotected, chief executive of the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association Chris Oldfield claimed today.
Speaking at the Elders site at Agfest, Mr Oldfield said “our brand is our reputation”.
“If it is at all sullied, tarnished or demeaned then it is defamed and no amount of rehabilitation will restore it,” he said.
“Only the national government can enforce brand reputation in Australia. In our view it is not protecting the concept of brand. The legislative framework for brand protection throughout Australia must be reviewed and updated. While country-of-origin labelling protection is clear, the same cannot be said for place names within Australia.
“Our reading of the Trade Practices Act is that the provisions covering false or misleading representation are not clear in terms of the consequences concerning the place-of-origin of goods when the place of origin is not defined as being part of the country, state, city or town.
“In states like Tasmania the issue of identity is vital. The situation on King Island exemplifies the problems we face.”
Mr Oldfield said the TFGA had taken the view, as it attempted to keep the JBS Swift abattoirs open, that only beef that was produced and processed on the island could be branded “King Island Beef”.
“Naturally, beef producers must remain free to send their cattle off the island for slaughter, but we hold that that beef cannot be marketed and sold as King Island Beef.”
Mr Oldfield’s address was entitled Tasmania – Welcome to the 21st Century.
He said Tasmania had emerged in the last 25 years from an era where Tasmanians had seen themselves as “third-class denizens of a state that was unquestionably the runt of the litter of federation”.
“They were the butt of jokes. They came last in everything,” he said.
Back in the 80s, there was no such concept as brand. Branding in the 80s was associated with cattlemen and hot irons. In the 21st century brand translates to identity and quality assurance rather than ownership.
“Today we live in a globalised economy. As we have discovered, when Wall Street sneezes we all catch cold. As we advance into the new market regime of the 21st century, dominated not by the US but by China and India, we will face the same globalising influences of interconnected economies. Our markets will be influenced more from Asia and the sub-continent than from Wall Street and Westminster.”
Tasmanian Farmers & Graziers Association
PO Box 193
Launceston, Tasmania 7250
Australia
