The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission wants to ensure that exporters of Australian wheat are provided with fair and transparent access to grain ports used to export wheat.
Wheat is one of Australia's key exports. Unlocking constraints at grain ports will benefit Australian wheat farmers and the economy.
The wheat industry is currently in transition after liberalisation, having moved from a single exporter of wheat to 23 accredited wheat exporters within 12 months. One of the requirements of liberalisation is that port operators CBH, ABB and Graincorp must have port access arrangements accepted by the ACCC.
The ACCC has conducted a review of these access arrangements, which included extensive consultation with farmers, port operators and grain exporters.
As a result, the ACCC has issued draft decisions today that it will not accept the access arrangements proposed by port operators CBH, ABB and Graincorp in their current form.
The ACCC considers that proposed port access arrangements developed by these three operators should provide greater clarity and transparency for Australian wheat exporters. Specifically, the ACCC considers that the port access arrangements should:
- recognise the need for port operators to have flexibility to operate their supply chains efficiently in the transitionary environment
- provide Australian wheat exporters with fair, transparent and non-discriminatory access to port terminal facilities, and
- provide transparent and clear processes for managing demand for port terminal services.
Ensuring all wheat exporters have fair and non-discriminatory access to the ports will underpin a competitive wheat export industry.
The ACCC has provided detailed feedback to the port operators to assist them to revise their arrangements to a form that could be accepted.
Further details of the ACCC's feedback on the port operators' access arrangements are available on the ACCC website.
The ACCC invites submissions from interested parties on its draft decisions and on the ACCC's proposals for improvements. Submissions close on September 3 2009.