The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission proposes to grant authorisation to Agsafe Limited for a further three years to allow it to continue to enforce the Agsafe Accreditation and Training Program.
The program aims to ensure regulatory compliance within the supply chain of agricultural and veterinary chemicals in Australia through training and accreditation. Authorisation allows Agsafe to impose trading sanctions on persons and premises that do not comply with the rules of the program. Agsafe proposes to use this period to transition to an incentive-based scheme.
"The ACCC considers that authorisation is likely to benefit farmers, industry personnel, the environment and government by maintaining a high level of compliance and safety within the agvet chemical industry," ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said.
"In particular, authorisation is likely to help to maintain safety levels and minimise disruption to the industry as Agsafe transitions to its proposed new incentive-based scheme, which does not involve trading sanctions."
The ACCC's draft determination is available from the ACCC website.
The ACCC invites submissions from interested parties in relation to the draft determination before making its final decision. Parties wishing to make submissions should do so by 1 September 2010. Please refer to the website for further information about making a submission to the ACCC.
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.