The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has granted authorisation* for the continuation of milk pricing and milk purchasing policies between Dairy Farmers Milk Co-operative Limited and Australian Cooperative Food Limited** following the sale of ACF to National Foods***.
DFMC acquires raw milk from its farmer members and sells this milk to ACF for processing into dairy products.
The policies require DFMC to adopt the same price and purchasing arrangements in relation to the purchase of raw milk from its farmer members as ACF applies to its purchase of raw milk from DFMC.
"Following a public consultation process, the ACCC considers that the continuation of the existing pricing and purchasing policies following the sale of ACF will result in a public benefit in the form of transaction cost savings and efficiency gains for DFMC farmers and ACF," ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today.
"The ACCC also considers the continuation of the policies will provide certainty of supply arrangements, particularly for DFMC farmer members."
The ACCC has granted authorisation for a period of five years. The ACCC's final determination will be available by following the Public Registers and Authorisations Registers links on the ACCC's website, www.accc.gov.au.
For media inquiries to the ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, please call Ms Lin Enright, ACCC Media, on (02) 6243 1108 or 0414 613 520. For general inquiries, please call the Infocentre: 1300 302 502.
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*Authorisation provides immunity from court action for conduct that might otherwise raise concerns under the competition provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974. Broadly, the ACCC may grant an authorisation when it is satisfied that the public benefit from the conduct outweighs any public detriment. The ACCC conducts a comprehensive public consultation process and issues a draft determination before making a decision to grant or deny authorisation.
**Dairy Farmers Milk Co-operative Limited, Australian Co-operative Foods Limited. DFMC and ACF are currently related parties within the meaning of section 4A(5) of the Trade Practices Act.
***National Foods Limited. DFMC, ACF and National Foods entered into an agreement on 25 August 2008 for the sale of ACF to National Foods. The sale is expected to be completed in or about November 2008.
