List of Recommendations

Recommendation 1

3.94

The committee recommends that the Department requires that Dairy Australia increase its research, development and extension activities into tropical and subtropical dairy regions.

Recommendation 2

3.100

The committee recommends that the government amend the Primary Industries (Excise) Levies Act 1999 to require processors to pay a levy to fund Dairy Australia.

Recommendation 3

4.54

The committee recommends that the government make the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct a mandatory code under the Competition and Consumer Act.

Recommendation 4

4.55

The committee recommends that the government investigate price discrepancies between exclusive and non-exclusive milk supply contracts, processors circumventing collective bargaining groups, and the fairness of pricing for multi-year contracts.

Recommendation 5

4.56

The committee recommends that the government in its 12-month review of the dairy code of conduct give consideration to amending the code of conduct to require that:

non-exclusive supply contracts be on a volume not percentage basis; and

arbitration be made mandatory.

Recommendation 6

4.57

The committee recommends that the government produce and distribute information for farmers on the bargaining advantages afforded by the code of conduct to assist in their negotiations with processors.

Recommendation 7

4.81

The committee recommends that the government introduces provisions for the ethical supply of milk to the Food and Grocery Code aimed at ensuring that supermarkets and their suppliers buy milk at a price that exceeds the regional cost of production.

Recommendation 8

4.82

The committee recommends that the government reforms the competition framework to make unconscionable conduct provisions in Australian Consumer Law more accessible to farmers, and to incorporate the principle of fairness into contractual dealings between supermarkets, processors and farmers.

Recommendation 9

5.43

The committee recommends that the government expand the representative sample of statistical information collected by Dairy Australia so that it better represents the population of Australian dairy farms.

Recommendation 10

5.44

The committee recommends that the government maintain a single authoritative measure of the cost of production of milk for the eight regional milk districts.

Recommendation 11

5.45

The committee recommends that the government consider approaches to improve the timely provision of milk production data to Dairy Australia by processors.

Recommendation 12

5.46

The committee recommends that the government consider approaches to enhance the information processors provide Dairy Australia regarding the locations in which they source their milk.

Recommendation 13

6.65

The committee recommends that the ACCC be tasked with investigating a mandatory minimum farm gate price for milk in each dairy region.

Recommendation 14

6.81

The committee recommends that the government consult with industry stakeholders to investigate a retail sales levy that would increase returns to farmers.

| Contents |