Australian Seafood Industries Pty Ltd - Authorisation - A91444

Australian Seafood Industries Pty Ltd (the Applicant) proposes to make and give effect to arrangements for the collection of a levy from oyster farmers with the South Australian Oyster Research Council (SAORC), the Tasmanian Oster Research Council Limited (TORC) and participating Pacific oyster hatcheries.

The levy is to be collected, either by or on behalf of the Applicant, from oyster farmers who purchase Pacific oyster spat from participating Pacific oyster hatcheries. The levy will commence at $2.80 per 1000 spat, indexed annually by CPI, and will be collected for a period of 10 years. The Applicant will use the collected monies for research and development of Pacific oyster broodstock with increased resistance to the Pacific Oyster Mortality Syndrome (POMS virus).

The proposed arrangement will allow participating Pacific oyster hatcheries to purchase POMS resistant oyster broodstock from the Applicant.

On 14 August 2014 the ACCC granted interim authorisation to enable ASI to commence collecting the levy and commence research into developing spat with resistance to POMS. Interim authorisation remains in place until the final determination comes into effect or the ACCC withdraws it.

On 3 December 2014, the ACCC granted authorisation for ten years to enable ASI to collect a levy, in conjunction with hatcheries, on the purchase of Pacific oyster spat by Australian oyster growers to fund research into developing spat with resistance to POMS. The authorisation expires on 24 December 2024.