Australian Made calls on Government to support CoO

In the lead up to the forthcoming election, The Australian Made Campaign has called for a commitment in Government for stronger support for country-of-origin branding.

“The Australian brand is one of the most powerful assets available to our businesses in global markets, but unfortunately the value of this seems to have been consistently underestimated in government and bureaucratic circles for many years,” Australian Made Campaign Chief Executive, Ian Harrison, said.

 “A stronger focus on country-of-origin branding using Australia’s registered country-of-origin trade mark – the Australian Made, Australian Grown logo – would help support manufacturers, farmers and processors producing genuine Aussie products.”

The iconic green-and-gold kangaroo logo has been used by thousands of businesses to identify genuine Australian products and produce, in Australia and overseas, for nearly three decades.

“In an environment where increased costs and a high $AUD have seriously undermined the competitiveness of many Australian products, country-of-origin is an asset we should be driving much, much harder,” Mr Harrison said.

“There is more than enough public benefit associated with the Australian Made, Australian Grown logo to justify a much deeper, strategic partnership between the Government and the campaign behind the logo.”

Australian Made has also called for steps to reduce the unacceptable level of confusion among Australian consumers about the country-of-origin labelling laws in Australia.

“It’s important that we rebuild confidence in the system and add marketing value to the manufacturing, growing and processing of products in this country,” Mr Harrison said.

 “We are lobbying the Government to work together with us on this.”

“Jobs, better career opportunities and an improved future for all Australians will be the outcomes of such a partnership,” Mr Harrison said.