On 29 September 2009 the ACCC accepted, pursuant to Division 6 of Part IIIA of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (known as the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CCA) from 1 January 2011), the Access Undertaking (the Undertaking) provided to the ACCC by Viterra (then AusBulk) on 24 September 2009 relating to the provision to accredited wheat exporters of access to port terminal services for the purposes relating to the export of bulk wheat. This followed a lengthy process of consultation on an earlier version of Viterra's Undertaking.
For additional information relating to the Port Terminal Services Access Undertaking and the process leading to its submission and acceptance, please refer to the Key Documents of the Undertaking Process below.
As part of the Undertaking, Viterra is required to publish its Port Loading Protocols and a current shipping stem on its website.
Please note that the ACCC is not responsible for the quality, validity or accuracy of information published to Viterra's website. Links to other websites are provided for convenience and do not constitute endorsement of material at those sites or any associated information, product or service.
Breach of Undertaking
ACCC letter concerning breach by Viterra of its Port Terminal Services Access Undertaking (Wheat Access Undertaking).
On April 16 2009, Viterra (then ABB Grain) lodged an Undertaking for assessment under section 44ZZA of the TPA (known as the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CCA) from 1 January 2011).
The ACCC released an Issues Paper on 29 April 2009 and invited comment on the Undertaking. The Issues Paper, subsequent submissions, and requests for information document the consultation process between the ACCC and farm groups, the bulk handlers, accredited wheat exporters, and other interested parties.
Following consultation with stakeholders, the ACCC published an initial draft decision stating that ABB's original April proposal was not likely to be acceptable, and likely require changes.
The ACCC sought submissions on this draft decision, and subsequently released a further draft decision on 23 September 2009 giving guidance as to the type of undertaking that would likely be accepted by the ACCC.
This Undertaking was accepted by the ACCC on 29 September, and Wheat Exports Australia subsequently announced the bulk wheat export accreditation renewed for AusBulk (now Viterra) on 30 September 2009.
