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Trader rights and responsibilities
Traders are defined in the Horticulture Code of Conduct as agents or merchants.
As a trader, you must:
Before a relationship
- prepare, publish and make publicly available your terms of trade.
When entering a relationship
- have a horticulture produce agreement in place before trading
- make sure the horticulture produce agreement is in writing and meets all required conditions and minimum requirements
- state quality specifications for produce in your horticulture produce agreement. This can be the FreshSpecs produce specifications or your own specifications
- ensure the grower accepts the agreement before trading, either by signing it or by confirming their agreement in writing, such as by email or text message
- deal in good faith in your business relationship with the grower.
During a relationship
- accept horticulture produce delivered under a horticulture produce agreement, except where the agreement permits you to reject it
- notify the grower that produce has been rejected within 24 hours of rejecting it
- exercise reasonable care and skill in handling and storing the grower’s produce
- pay the grower for horticulture produce within the specified payment period
- as an agent, sell produce on ‘an arm’s length basis’ and act in the best interests of the grower
- keep all required records for at least 6 years, and in some cases 6 years after the agreement expires
- produce records when required to do so by the ACCC for a compliance check
- give a statement to growers setting out the details of transactions at required times
- act in good faith in your business relationships with growers.
In the case of a dispute
Disputes can happen for many reasons. Under the code, growers and traders can choose how to resolve a dispute.
The code has a defined dispute resolution procedure, which must be followed if one of the parties chooses it. This can include appointing a mediator.
A dispute resolution procedure can also be described in the horticulture produce agreement, though the grower or trader can instead choose to follow the procedure described in the code.
Grower rights and responsibilities
As a grower, you:
When entering a relationship
- must have a written horticulture produce agreement in place before trading
- must, if you accept the agreement, communicate your acceptance to the trader either by signing it or by confirming in writing, such as by email or text message
- should not send any produce until you have communicated acceptance to the trader
- can expect your agreement to state which pricing method a merchant intends to use. This can be an agreed price, or a price method or formula
- must act in good faith in your business relationships with traders and can expect to have them deal with you in good faith.
During a relationship
- should be notified by a trader within 24 hours if your produce has been rejected
- can expect a trader to exercise reasonable care and skill in handling and storing your produce
- should receive payment for horticulture produce within the specified payment period
- can expect a statement from traders setting out the details of transactions
- must keep all required records for at least 6 years
- must produce records when required to do so by the ACCC for a compliance check
- must act in good faith in your business relationships with traders and can expect to have them deal with you in good faith.
In the case of a dispute
Disputes can happen for many reasons. Under the code, growers and traders can choose how to resolve a dispute.
The code has a defined dispute resolution procedure, which must be followed if one of the parties chooses it. This can include appointing a mediator.
A dispute resolution procedure can also be described in the horticulture produce agreement, though the grower or trader can instead choose to follow the procedure described in the code.
Compliance and penalties under the code
We do regular compliance checks to ensure compliance with the code. This involves requiring growers and traders to provide us with certain documents or other information.
We also investigate alleged breaches of the horticulture code.
The horticulture code details financial penalties and infringement notices that can be issued when responsibilities are not met and rights are breached.
We have a range of options to ensure compliance, including:
- administrative resolutions, such as the party in breach agreeing to stop the behaviour
- court enforceable undertakings under section 87B of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010
- infringement notices
- court action.