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Claims about country of origin

A business must not make false or misleading claims about where goods came from. Goods must meet these standards to accurately claim a country of origin.

Claims

A claim or representation about country of origin includes:

• words
• a picture
• both words and a picture.

The claim will indicate where the goods were made, produced or grown.

The claim may be:

• attached to the goods (e.g. on a label)
• in promotional material linked to the goods.

Words or pictures that are an essential part of the goods are not automatically a claim about country of origin. For example, a t-shirt with a ‘Made in Australia’ label makes a representation about country of origin. A t-shirt emblazoned with the word ‘Australia’ as part of its design, does not.

‘Made in’ statements

A 'made in' statement on goods says that:

• work in that country substantially changed what the goods look like or do
• the business spent at least half of the producing or manufacturing costs in that country.

The ‘Made in Australia’ stamp is an example of a ‘made in’ statement.

‘Product of’ statements

A ‘product of’ statement (sometimes ‘produce of’ or ‘produced in’) says that:

• virtually all production or manufacturing happened in that country
• all of the significant parts or ingredients came from (and always come from) that country.

Using a logo

A business can only put a prescribed logo on goods if work in that country:

• significantly changed what the goods do (or what they look like)
• accounts for a certain percentage of their costs (at least 51% for ‘Made in Australia’).

‘Grown in’ statements

A statement that goods are grown in a certain country claims that:

• at least half of the finished product (compared to its total mass) grew or was processed in that country
• virtually all of the production or manufacturing happened in that country
• all of the significant ingredients or components came from (and always come from) that country.

Certification trademarks

The country of origin of a good can be represented by use of a certification trademark.

The ‘Australian Made, Australian Grown’ logo, and other certification trademarks, can only be used with permission of the owner.