The High Court has agreed with the Ministry for Primary Industries that Honey New Zealand’s international’s trademarks Manuka Doctor and Manuka Pharm amount to health claims and cannot be used on the company’s products.
However, a spokesman for the company said it would appeal the decision, and that it might have implications for other companies.
Asked if MPI was pursuing other companies who made health claims on products, a spokeswoman said the government agency was not prepared to share information about in-progress investigations “as it might prejudice our investigation”.
Honey New Zealand said in a statement that it was surprised by the decision, which ruled the Manuka Doctor and Manuka Pharm trademarks did not comply with the labelling provisions of the Australia New Zealand Foods Standards Code. The company’s other brands are unaffected by the decision.
It said that, while being able to use trademarks into which it had invested considerable resources was important to the company, its customers were more likely to focus on the high-quality product in the jar.
MPI cancelled Honey NZ’s export assurance in May this year, saying the company’s brand names Manuka Doctor and Manuka Pharm breached food labelling standards.
That followed a review of manuka honey labelling in 2014.
The company has not been able to export the manuka products with the labels since May 22 because of the lack of an export certificate. It applied for a judicial declaration over the legality of using the trademarks.
Andrew Brown QC represented Honey NZ at the Wellington High Court before Justice Simon France.
In July 2014, MPI introduced an interim labelling guideline to help industry and protect consumers from false claims.
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Justice France said Manuka Doctor and Manuka Pharm represented prohibited health claims, namely that the product may have a beneficial effect on one’s health when consumed.
Honey export revenue is estimated by MPI to be $217 million for 2015 and to reach $283m by 2019.
Source: stuff.co.nz
