WAFarmers has helped to protect the farmgate returns of grain growers and secure the least cost pathway to port by contributing to the successful lobbying of government to exempt grower co-operatives from port regulation.
For the past few months, the WAFarmers Grains Section has been working hard to prove to government that grower co-operatives should receive an exemption because they are owned and controlled by growers for their benefit, rather than external shareholders.
“WAFarmers is committed to securing the competitiveness of all farmers, and this is just one example of how WAFarmers is working towards this,” Grains Council President Kim Simpson said.
“While we would have preferred to see a repeal of the Wheat Exporting Act 2008, our second preference was to have co-operatives exempted from regulation to reduce supply chain costs, and we have been successful in achieving this.”
The Grains Council made a submission to the Department of Agriculture in June regarding the Mandatory Code of Conduct for Grain Export Terminals, arguing its case.
“A mandatory code of conduct has huge potential for differential regulation across port operators, which could favour new entrants including large multinational companies, which ultimately decreases the global competitiveness of WA grain growers,” Mr Simpson said.
“Under some of the unsuccessful proposed options, there was an economic incentive for new entrants to adopt their business structure to avoid regulation, severely disadvantaging existing exporters forced to comply with port regulations.”
Ends.
All media requests must be directed to WAFarmers Marketing and Communications Officer Leslee Hall on (08) 9486 2100 or [email protected].
