Comments attributable to NFF President David Jochinke:
The ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Farmers’ Federation (NFF) welcomes the Government’s announcement of $30 million over three years to increase Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) funding for investigations and enforcement relating to the supermarket and retail sector.
The NFF has long called for increased resourcing to the ACCC to bolster its critical role in Australia’s competition landscape, in particular for the food and grocery sector.
While today’s announcement indicates that much of the funding will go to consumer facing issues, it is also important that the review and investigation of supply chain issues are appropriately resourced.
Successive reviews have found that, in particular suppliers of perishable produce, experience issues such unfair contract terms, information asymmetries and lack transparency, all of which dampen competition in the food and grocery supply chain.
The NFF also welcomes the Government’s additional announcement to seek reform to planning and zoning regulations with states and territories to help boost competition in the supermarket sector by opening up more sites for new stores.
The NFF has long advocated for a state-by-state review into planning and zoning laws that support new businesses and to ensure such issues such as ‘land banking’ do not weaken competition in food and grocery supply chains.
Today’s announcement forms part of the Government’s wider competition reforms which the NFF supports, including reforms to the merger and acquisition framework and changes to the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct.
