“The report, which follows a series of workshops held around regional Australia, reflects the views of growers and the broader industries. Despite the diversity of markets in horticulture and viticulture, there were a number of common concerns,” said ACCC Commissioner, Mick Keogh.

Key issues raised by stakeholders included:

• The ineffectiveness of the current Horticulture Code of Conduct;
• Concerns about late and non-payment of growers by wholesalers;
• A fear of raising complaints due to concerns about retribution;
• Uncertainty in contracting practices across both industries.

“It is clear that the Horticulture Code is not achieving its aims and we believe that significant changes to the Code are required,” said ACCC Deputy Chair, Michael Schaper. “The Code needs to have greater coverage, through the inclusion of pre-2006 agreements, and penalties and infringement notices should be available for breaches of the Code to encourage widespread compliance.”

The report identifies a number of areas in which the ACCC will be conducting further work in both industries. These include examining allegations of late payments, interactions between growers and retailers under the Food and Grocery Code, and assessing standard form contracts across both industries to promote compliance with the upcoming business-to- business unfair contract term law.

“There are also a number of contracting and competition issues in the viticulture industry that require further consideration and the ACCC’s Agriculture Unit will be looking at these in greater detail,” Keogh said.

The report is available at: Perspectives in horticulture and viticulture - Industry views on competition and fair trading issues

Background

The ACCC held a series of workshops to speak with the horticulture and viticulture industries. Workshops were held in Shepparton, Toowoomba, Bunbury, Griffith, Murray Bridge and Devonport. ACCC Deputy Chair Michael Schaper and Commissioner Mick Keogh led these workshops, which were open to all interested parties. The ACCC also held and attended a range of other meetings with horticulture and viticulture industry participants.

The ACCC has been provided with additional funding of $11.4 million over four years to establish an Agriculture Unit that will conduct investigations and engagement in rural and regional areas.

The Horticulture Code of Conduct is administered by the ACCC. The Code was recently the subject of an independent review and the Government is currently considering its response to this review.

The ACCC has established an Agriculture Information Network. Subscribers to this information network will receive emails about developments concerning new or updated resources, enforcement action as well as upcoming events, surveys and other opportunities to engage with the ACCC.