Ingham's Group Ltd, other chicken processors and the Australian Chicken Meat Federation

On 6 August 2020 Ingham's applied for authorisation on behalf of itself, Turosi, Hazeldene, and the Australian Chicken Meat Federation to coordinate the production, processing and supply of chicken meat products in Victoria. The application was lodged in response to the imposition of restrictions on the workforce of meat processors by the Victorian Government, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The parties requested the ACCC grant urgent interim authorisation, prior to the restrictions coming into force at 11.59pm on Friday 7 August 2020.

The proposed arrangements do not involve collective decisions relating to the price at which chicken processors acquire or supply goods or services, arrangements between processors and their chicken growers, or supply arrangements between processors and customers.

On 7 August 2020 the ACCC granted interim authorisation to the parties for the purpose of minimising disruption to the processing of chicken meat products in Victoria during the pandemic.

On 24 September 2020, the ACCC issued a draft determination proposing to grant authorisation until 31 December 2020.

On 29 October 2020, the ACCC made its final determination granting authorisation to Ingham’s, subject to conditions requiring the processors to provide the ACCC with weekly reports setting out decisions made by the COVID Working Group, and provide any further information that the ACCC requests.

If no application for review of the determination is made to the Australian Competition Tribunal, the authorisation will come into effect on 20 November 2020. Authorisation is granted subject to reporting obligations to the ACCC. The full authorisation document is available below.

The ACCC has decided to grant authorisation until 31 December 2020.

A timetable is set out below for your information.