Avocado grower levy to manage biosecurity
Avocados Australia’s CEO John Tyas said this will not affect the cost of levies paid by growers.
Australia’s commercial avocado growers pay a levy, which in turn funds research and development and marketing and promotion activities.
“The avocado industry has a number of biosecurity obligations that it must meet and these are currently resourced by Avocados Australia and its members, on behalf of the entire industry,” Mr Tyas said.
“Strong biosecurity is vital for our industry but doesn’t get much exposure unless there is a problem.
"Our Board of Directors has agreed to this levy proposal because it recognises the importance of the avocado industry meeting it biosecurity commitments on an ongoing basis and that appropriate resources need to be in place to achieve this.”
The current levy (for R&D and Marketing) on fresh avocados is set at 7.5 cents per kilogram, split between R&D (3 cents per kilogram) and Marketing (4.5 cents per kilogram). Avocados Australia is proposing to reduce the R&D Levy on fresh avocados by 0.1 of a cent per kilogram (3.33 per cent) and to divert this to a Plant Health Australia Levy for biosecurity.
"This means that there will be absolutely no change to the total levy paid,” Mr Tyas said.
Growers can click here to download the detailed proposal which sets out why Avocados Australia is requesting this change, how the Plant Health Australia Levy will be managed, and an indication of the amount of funds that would be diverted from R&D to biosecurity following this change. “It is important we demonstrate to the Australian Government that the majority of avocado levy payers support this change,” Mr Tyas said.
Avocados Australia is asking all growers to fill out a simple survey, which has been sent to them this week, indicating whether they support this change or not.
Any avocado growers that do not regularly receive industry communication from Avocados Australia are encouraged to contact the organisation for a copy of the survey either by email to: admin@avocado.org.au , or by phone 1300 303 972.
For more information:
Caroline Page
Avocados Australia Limited on
Tel: +61 (07) 3846 6566