The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has released an issues paper seeking views on whether to exempt GrainCorp Operations Limited (GrainCorp) from certain parts of the code at its port terminal facility at Portland.
Port terminal service providers are required to comply with the mandatory code on bulk grain port terminal access. The ACCC is currently considering whether it is appropriate for GrainCorp to be exempt from parts 3 to 6 of the code at Portland.
The ACCC’s issues paper outlines GrainCorp’s application for exemption and seeks public submissions in response to questions in the paper.
In October 2018 the ACCC published an issues paper seeking views on Riordan Grain Services’ application for exemption at Portland. The ACCC intends to carry out a joint assessment of Riordan Grain Services’ and GrainCorp’s applications, in order to determine whether to grant or not grant exemptions to GrainCorp and Riordan Grain Services at Portland.
The issues paper and GrainCorp’s submission are available at GrainCorp Port of Portland wheat port exemption assessment.
The closing date for submissions is 28 February 2019.
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 most of the code’s obligations, 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.