Bundaberg horticulture growers who have experienced unfair trading at the hands of a number of wholesalers, despite a mandatory Horticulture Code of Conduct, yesterday, 12 July, met with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to air their grievances.
Growcom’s Chief Advocate Rachel Mackenzie and Bundaberg Fruit & Vegetable Growers (BFVG) Managing Director Bree Grima were present at the meeting and jointly called for stronger enforcement of the mandatory Horticulture Code and increased penalties for wrong doing.
Thirty five growers attended the meeting with Commissioner Mick Keogh where they expressed serious concerns about aspects of relationships in the horticulture supply chain.
They raised the following issues:
- non-adherence by wholesalers to Horticulture Produce Agreements, compulsory under the Code
- long payment times of up to 90 days with agents withholding payment for no given reason. One grower has not been paid for 12 months. Some growers are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars. One grower said he was selling his farm because he could not operate under these poor business conditions.
- wholesalers claiming to be merchants but acting as agents.
- no transparency in business transactions so that growers are unable to determine if they are being paid fairly. Lack of accountability and penalties for the poor treatment meted out by wrong doers.
- instances of manipulation of the market by the wholesaler to obtain the best outcome for the wholesaler.
- a strongly held belief that growers carry all the risk and supply agreements are not being honoured in dealings between the markets and the supermarkets.
Ms Mackenzie said that most of growers’ concerns related to relationships with the wholesale markets, however, some concerns related to the retailers. A voluntary Food and Grocery Code of Conduct is currently in place nationally but may not have sufficient powers of enforcement to create a level playing field, Ms Mackenzie said.
“There were also agricultural supply businesses who raised the issue that if growers were not in a position to pay them in a timely manner, it had a flow-on impact on the economy of the whole region,” Ms Grima said.
“This is particularly concerning in a region like Bundaberg which relies so heavily on horticulture.
“The growers indicated that there were some wholesalers who acted honourably but the issues seemed to be consistent and systemic.
“The growers all agreed that a stronger Horticulture Code with penalties and enforcement would improve accountability and would be a good starting point for a better system.
“Another suggested option was the implementation of a trust account system for agency transactions.”
BFVG and Growcom thanked the federal Member for Hinkler Keith Pitt for organising the meeting and Commissioner Mick Keogh and his team for attending to hear growers’ complaints.
Mr Keogh was recently appointed as Agriculture Commissioner to the ACCC to review and improve competition, efficiency, transparency and trading matters in agriculture markets.
The mandatory Code of Conduct was put in place nationally in 2006 and was recently independently reviewed. The federal government are currently considering the committee’s recommendations.
For more information:
Rachel Mackenzie
Growcom
Tel: 0408 796 199
Bree Grima
BFVG
Tel: 07 41 533 007