Senate Committee issues its report on Australian Food Processing Sector

A Senate Select Committee report examining Australia’s Food Processing Sector was released on 16 Aug…

A Senate Select Committee report examining Australia’s Food Processing Sector was released on 16 August 2012.

The Senate’s Inquiry covered the following broad areas:

(a) the competitiveness and future viability of Australia’s food processing sector in

global markets;

(b) the regulatory environment for Australia’s food processing and manufacturing

companies ;

(c) the impact of Australia’s competition regime and the food retail sector, on the food processing sector, including the effectiveness of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010;

(d) the effectiveness of anti-dumping rules;

(e) the costs of production inputs including raw materials, labour, energy and water;

(f) the effect of international anti-free trade measures;

(g) the access to efficient and quality infrastructure, investment capital and skilled labour and skills training.

The Select Committee made 35 recommendations, including recommendations for government to monitor how big carbon emitters pass on the costs of the carbon price into the supply chain. The Committee also recommended that the government initiate an independent review of the competition provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, including a consideration of the misuse of market power; predatory pricing; and unconscionable conduct, together with recommendations about a food supply chain ombudsman within the ongoing roles of the ACCC.

The Select Committee recommends that the major Australian supermarkets voluntarily establish benchmarks within their corporate social responsibility policies to measure and improve satisfaction of suppliers in dealing with the supermarkets.

The Committee made a number of recommendations concerning country of origin labelling, and the labelling of products in general.