Farmers and small businesses in rural and regional areas are urged to be cautious, particularly when buying heavy machinery, following a spike in scams targeting the agricultural sector this year.
Reports to the ACCC’s Scamwatch show Australian farm businesses lost more than $1.2 million to scammers between 1 January and 31 August 2022, an increase of more than 20 per cent compared to the same period last year.
The ACCC has updated its Horticulture Code guidance to help growers and traders understand their rights and fulfill their responsibilities under the code.
The code seeks to protect horticulture growers by requiring all trading with agents and merchants (traders) to happen under a written agreement. The agreement must include certain things, such as how prices are calculated and when the grower gets paid.
Terms of trade are the standard terms and conditions under which a trader is prepared to do business with growers. Under the horticulture code, traders must make sure their terms of trade are published and made publicly available.
Traders and growers have rights and responsibilities under the horticulture code. The trader and grower relationship goes through different stages.
The horticulture code applies to the relationship between a grower and a trader of horticulture produce, with certain exceptions.
Some fruit and vegetable wholesalers are not meeting their legal obligations under the Horticulture Code of Conduct, recent audits by the ACCC have found.
The ACCC conducted audits after hearing through its Perishable Agricultural Goods Inquiry that some fruit and vegetable wholesalers were trading without Horticulture Produce Agreements, which is a breach of the code. Horticulture Produce Agreements are written contracts that growers and wholesalers must have in place before trading with each other.
Commercial practices in the wine grape industry have improved, but further regulatory action may be required unless additional important reforms are implemented, an ACCC review has found.
Victorian table grape traders Grape Co Australia Pty Ltd and Grape Co Farms Pty Ltd (together Grape Co) have paid penalties totalling $34,920 after the ACCC issued three infringement notices alleging Grape Co made false or misleading representations about grape origins and failed to comply with the Horticulture Code of Conduct.
In proceedings brought by the ACCC, the Federal Court has declared that certain terms of contracts between Australia’s largest potato wholesaler, Mitolo Group Pty Ltd, and potato growers entered into between December 2016 and February 2018 were unfair contract terms and therefore void.
A trader in apples, pears and other fresh fruits has agreed to change its horticulture produce agreements with growers after the ACCC raised concerns the agreements contained unfair contract terms, and terms which did not comply with the Horticulture Code of Conduct.
M.V Napoleone & Co Pty Ltd, trading as Red Rich Fruits, has agreed to amend a term in its standard form horticulture produce agreement considered by the ACCC to likely be an unfair contract term under the Australian Consumer Law.