Labelling Issues of Organic and GM Foods in Australia

Growth in the demand for organic foods has been phenomenal in the past decade both in Australia and overseas because organic production is seen to be beneficial to both human health and the environment. In general, organic products commend a price premium over conventional products. Since organic attributes cannot be verified easily and there is no control over the use of the word 'organic' in the Australian market, the organic label has been subject to abuse. Over ten years, the Australian organic industry has called for a domestic regulation, claiming that any incidence of consumer deception and product misrepresentation can result in the loss of consumer confidence and sales, and more importantly, hinder future industry growth. However, the Government has rejected the calls. On the other hand, despite its recent history, the labelling of GM foods has become mandatory since 2001. This paper examines the arguments for and against the mandatory labelling of organic foods in Australia, compares the political and marketing environments in which organic and GMO foods operate, and assesses the appropriateness of the differing regulatory responses.organic foods, GM foods, food labelling., Agribusiness, Marketing, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

A Cointegration Analysis of Wool Prices

Based on cointegration analysis and monthly data from 1976.8 to 1999.10, a long-run equilibrium relationship was found to exist between prices for wools of 19 to 23 microns, despite the wool Reserve Price Scheme operated until February 1991. Furthermore, the prices for 19, 20 and 21 micron wools were found to be weakly exogenous. The latter result suggested that, although co-integrated, prices for finer wools tended to be less volatile than coarser wools. The implications are that wool producers would enjoy more stable prices by producing finer wools and that cross-hedging is possible given co-movements of prices.cointegration, error correction model, reserve price scheme, wool marketing., Demand and Price Analysis, Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing,

Cross-sector Comparisons of Poultry Production in The Philippines

The Philippine poultry industry is diverse. It comprises broiler chicken, layer chicken, native chicken and duck. The production of broiler and layer chickens are characterised by large-scale, intensive, commercial production systems with modern technology and imported hybrids. Native chicken and duck production, one the other hand, is characterised by low-input, backyard production by smallholders. The objectives of the paper are to provide an overview of the Philippine poultry industry, make cross-sector comparisons and derive policy implications based on the issues identified. The main conclusion is that although demand outlook is optimistic for the Philippine poultry industry as a whole because of anticipated income and population growth, it faces increasing threats from poultry imports due to higher input costs and less efficient production and marketing systems.The Philippines, backyard production, smallholder production, poultry marketing, trade liberalisation, Industrial Organization, Livestock Production/Industries,

Selling Australia as 'Clean and Green'

'Green and clean' has been used as a key marketing tool to promote Australian products overseas. The rationale is that consumers are generally concerned about personal health and the environment and will choose, and pay price premiums, for products that are, or perceived to be, clean (good for them) and green (good for the environment) over alternative products. But is Australia seen as clean and green? Is it really why people buy Australian products? And how effective is it as a marketing tool? This paper attempts to answer some of these questions. The study found that Australia may have a clean green image at present in some of her overseas markets, but to maintain such an image over time, concrete proof of environmental and quality credentials need to be provided to satisfy increasingly more educated and better-informed consumers. Wide adoption of integrated EMS and QA systems by Australian producers and food companies appears to be a means to establish such credentials and substantiate any 'clean and green' claim. Therefore, government policies should focus more on developing a range of tools to encourage good environmental and quality management practices, rather than on promoting the 'clean and green' image. Such campaigns may be counter-productive in the long run as it leads to complacency, rather than raising environmental and quality awareness.export marketing, clean and green, EMS, QA, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Relations/Trade,

Selling Australia as ‘clean and green’

‘Clean and green’ has been used as a marketing tool by Australian governments to promote agricultural products overseas. But how valid are these claims? Is the ‘clean and green’ image campaign effective? And should government be involved? We conclude that Australia may have had a ‘clean and green’ image in some markets, but in the future, concrete proof of environmental and quality credentials will be required to satisfy increasingly better-informed and more demanding customers. We argue that governments cannot, and should not, continue to promote Australian products based on an undefined ‘clean and green’ image. Rather, more resources should be directed to the development, promotion and wide adoption of integrated, credible and well-defined environmental management and quality assurance systems if Australia is to compete effectively in export markets, especially in the longer term.clean and green, EMS, export marketing, food production, food quality, QA, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Demand for Organic Food in Australia: Results from a Focus-Group Study

Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis,

Selling Australia as "clean and green"

"Green and clean" has been used as a key marketing tool to promote Australian products overseas. The rationale is that consumers are generally concerned about personal health and the environment and will choose, and pay price premiums, for products that are perceived to be clean (good for them) and green (good for the environment) over alternative products. But is Australia seen as clean and green? Is it really why people buy Australian? This paper attempts to investigate such questionsexport marketing, clean green image, Marketing,

Demand for Wine in Australia: Systems Versus Single Equation Approach

The objective of the study is to estimate demand for wine in Australia, based on both the systems approach and the single equation approach. Both approaches consider demand for three categories of alcoholic drinks (beer, wine and spirits) in a seemingly unrelated regression framework to take account of cross-equation correlations. Time series data on retail price indexes and apparent per capita consumption of alcoholic beverages for Australia for the period 1975/76 to 1998/99 are used for econometric estimation. The results show that over the short run, beer and wine are necessities; however, over the long run, wine becomes a luxury good. Beer and wine are complements. Demand for all three beverages is price inelastic. The study also found that the behaviour of wine consumers reflect past consumption patterns, indicating that wine is more addictive than either beer or spirits. A structural change in consumer preferences away from cheaper cask wines to more expensive bottled table wines has a significant impact on the volume of wine consumption. Finally, wine consumption has increased over time. The study re-confirms the importance of developing a model that considers the impacts of both economic and non-economic variables on wine consumption.wine demand, demand analysis, almst ideal demand system, Demand and Price Analysis,

The Philippine Duck Industry: Issues and Research Needs

The Philippine duck industry is dominated by balut (partially hatched embryos) production and by smallholder production that accounted for more than 75 percent of the total duck production. However, the commercial sector is gaining momentum in moving towards a higher degree of vertical integration and contract farming and there appears to be some increase in the demand for duck meat. At present, almost all of the demand for duck eggs is met by domestic production while about two percent of duck meat consumption is imported. As such, imports appear not to be a serious threat to the domestic supply at present. However, it is envisaged that as trade liberalisation continues, the Philippine duck industry will face increasing competition from overseas and other food products. Continuing survival and future growth of the industry depend on its ability to compete in a free trade environment, which, in turn, depends on efficiency of the production and marketing systems relative its competitors. The objectives of this paper are to provide an overview of the industry, identify industry issues and suggest areas for further research. The key issues identified in this paper include (1) a possible declining demand for duck products; (2) the absence of product standards and market information; and (3) the collection and consistency of BAS data. One suggestion is that expert opinions are needed to reconcile discrepancies in the published data. In addition, more research is needed on several areas, including identifying issues facing the smallholders, including the emergence of large scale commercial duck farms; better understanding of consumer demand; defining and establishing product standards, and generating more reliable market intelligence.duck, poultry marketing, trade liberalisation, balut, Industrial Organization, International Relations/Trade, Livestock Production/Industries,

Examining long-run relationships between Australian beef prices

Cointegration and impulse response analyses are used to investigate the short‐run and long‐run dynamics of the Australian beef market. The aim of this study is to determine whether long‐run relationships existed between Australian beef prices at the farm, wholesale and retail levels. Based on monthly data from 1971 to 1994, the results show that all three prices considered are cointegrated. Furthermore, the wholesale price is found to be weakly exogenous. The latter result might be an indication of market inefficiency due in part to price levelling often practised in the beef marketing system.Demand and Price Analysis, Livestock Production/Industries,