The ACCC has determined that Bulk Cargo Services Pty Ltd (BCS) and Wagner Corporation (Wagner Corp) are exempt service providers of port terminal services provided via their respective port terminal facilities at Pinkenba, Queensland.
The determinations were made by notifiable instrument and registered on the Federal Register of Legislation. The instrument and exemption for BCS commenced on 9 December 2022. The instrument and exemption for Wagner Corp commenced on 10 December 2022.
The ACCC has released a final determinations document that sets out the reasons why the ACCC decided to grant BCS and Wagner Corp exemptions. These reasons include the ACCC’s view that BCS and Wagner Corp face a high level of competitive constraint in the Pinkenba grain catchment area from other port terminal service providers and further constraint from containerised grain exports from the Port of Brisbane and the Queensland domestic market. BCS and Wagner Corp will therefore continue to have incentives to provide exporters with fair and transparent access to their services following exemption.
The exemptions mean that BCS and Wagner Corp will not be required to comply with Parts 3 to 6 of the Port Terminal Access (Bulk Wheat) Code of Conduct in the course of providing services at Pinkenba, Queensland.
The ACCC’s final determinations document is available on the ACCC website.
The notifiable instruments are available on the Federal Register of Legislation website:
Background
The Port Terminal Access (Bulk Wheat) Code of Conduct commenced on 30 September 2014.
The code regulates bulk grain port terminal operators to ensure that exporters have fair and transparent access to port terminal services.
Exempt service providers are not required to comply with obligations in Parts 3 to 6 of the code, including obligations not to discriminate or hinder other exporters when providing access to port terminal services, or to submit port capacity allocation systems for ACCC approval. They are still required to deal with exporters in good faith and publish certain information, including a port loading statement and port loading procedures.