The ACCC has released a draft determination proposing to grant Port of Portland Pty Ltd (POPL) exempt service provider status in relation to its Portland port terminal facility under the Port Terminal Access (Bulk Wheat) Code of Conduct.
An exemption would mean that POPL will not be required to comply with Parts 3 to 6 of the code when providing port terminal services at its facility at Portland.
The ACCC considers that POPL faces a high level of competitive constraint from competing port terminal facilities at Portland, as well as a limited but not insignificant level of constraint from facilities at Geelong, Melbourne, and Port Adelaide. The ACCC therefore considers that POPL has an incentive to provide fair and transparent access to port terminal services at its Portland facility.
The ACCC invites interested parties to respond to these preliminary views and will consider them prior to reaching a final view. The closing date for submissions is 9 March 2022.
Background
The Port Terminal Access (Bulk Wheat) Code of Conduct commenced on 30 September 2014 and 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.