May 9, 2022
The poultry meat industry will receive $550,000 from the Federal Government to investigate a potential code of conduct.
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said a code could identify and implement solutions to improve pricing transparency across the sector and help address bargaining power imbalances between growers and a small number of processors.
“The Australian poultry meat industry is highly concentrated, with only six processors controlling more than 95 per cent of the market,” Minister Littleproud said.
“In this environment it’s essential that growers can confidently negotiate fair and equitable contracts. Codes of conduct have increased transparency in other industries, by ensuring two-way data exchange.
“This stacks up with recommendations by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission following its inquiry into the country’s Perishable Agricultural Goods industries.”
National Farmers’ Federation CEO Tony Mahar said stakeholder engagement – both face to face and online – would be held across all growing regions to ensure industry input into the project reflected the diverse issues and opportunities in the poultry meat supply chain.
“Contract growers, processors, retailers, and other industry stakeholders will be able to provide feedback during the engagement process. As well as establishing the purpose and objective of a potential code of conduct, industry engagement will help develop a road map for implementation,” Mr Mahar said.
