The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has accepted that the Softwood Tasmania Joint Venture arrangements provide greater access to capital resulting in the continued growth and development of Tasmanian forestry assets.
The ACCC has granted authorisation for the arrangements for 10 years.
The joint venture has been operating since 1999 and involves Forestry Tasmania, Tasmanian Softwood Fund and Southern Hemisphere Softwood Strategies. The parties jointly plant, harvest and sell softwood logs grown in Tasmania.
Authorisation provides protection from court action for conduct or arrangements that might otherwise raise concerns under the competition provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974. Authorisation is granted where the ACCC is satisfied that the benefit to the public from the conduct outweighs any public detriment.
The ACCC's determination will be available from the ACCC website, www.accc.gov.au by following the Public Registers and Authorisations links.