FoodLegal Bulletin, November, 2006

As drought-affected farmers know, Australia is a dry land. In early November 2006, the Prime Minister called State ministers to Canberra for a water summit to discuss responses to what was being called ‘the worst drought in 100 years’. This 3,000-word article analyses the issues facing governments and food producers in relation to water resources, examines the competing demands in relation to food production, and raises other issues that ought to be addressed by key players.

This article of 1800-words gives an overview of the law governing use of the word 'fresh' as a marketing descriptor in relation to food. This article also examines the legal and constitutional relationships between the different government agencies that are responsible for the laws in relation to food descriptors and the food law enforcement issues.

This 1950-word article updates our earlier analysis from the October 2005 edition of the FoodLegal Bulletin. Specifically, we canvass developments in the push to formulate a national organic standard, compare the Australian experience with the situation existing overseas, and explore the choices and prospects for the Australian organic food industry in attaining the objective of giving the word ‘organic’ a legally binding meaning.