The Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union believes the Coalition’s failure to address the thousands of dodgy building and other manufactured products being imported into Australia that do not conform with local standards, is a major blow to the Australian manufacturing industry.
The union said the Coalition’s Policy to Boost the Competitiveness of Australian Manufacturing also appeared to be softening previous pledges by the Opposition around ensuring imports meet the standards that locally produced products conform to,.
While Shadow Minister for Industry Sophie Mirabella pledged in May that the Opposition would “ensure that imported products better comply with the mandatory and costly standards imposed on locally made goods”, no such commitment has been included in the Coalition’s election platform.
The union said the Coalition should be acutely aware of the issue of standards and the fact that local businesses are currently placed at a competitive disadvantage because overseas companies have a free rein with their sub-standard imports remaining unchecked and unremedied.
In comparison, local business must manufacture products that conform with higher local standards, which among other things ensure the public is protected from faulty products that risk public safety.
According to the CFMEU, there are currently serious gaps in conformity assessment, monitoring and enforcement of imports, with standards needing to be developed or improved. Current labeling requirements and the existing penalty regime for falsely claiming to reach standards are also practically non-existent, according to the union.
CFMEU National Secretary Michael O’Connor said it was disappointing that the Coalition policy had failed to address this key competitiveness issue, which is threatening the long-term viability of manufacturing, despite previous commitments that they would do something about it.
“This policy provides nothing on leveling the playing field by ensuring imported products conform to standards local manufacturers must meet,” Mr. O’Connor said.
“Manufacturers are telling us that they simply cannot compete against these dodgy imports, nor should they be expected to.”
“This issue must be addressed if we want to ensure that Australia remains a country than makes things, rather than allowing our local manufacturing industry to be killed off by poor quality products that unknowingly put consumers at risk.”
The CFMEU has written to a number of political parties asking them to commit to establishing an agency or commission to implement an intelligence-led, risk-based approach to standards conformity compliance assurance on imports.
