Strong Response to Inquiry

There have now been some 120 submissions made to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in response to the Inquiry into the competitiveness of retail prices.

Many of the submissions are from industry representative organisations covering sectors of the supply chain, including producers (meat, fruit and vegetables, eggs etc), wholesalers and retailers.

Themes in submissions include references to the issue of market power in the supply chain, the strength of the supermarket chains and the issue of transparency. Submissions from fruit and vegetable industry organisations express a diverse array of concerns highlighting rising input costs, the need for export opportunities and market access, and issues relating to ‘market power’ and ‘transparency’ throughout the supply chain.

The Horticulture Australia Limited submission took a much narrower focus and while highlighting that the major supermarket chains source a major part of their fresh produce requirements direct from growers, stated that the "most strident concerns of parties providing input" into their submission related to the issues of the perceived lack of transparency and the inappropriate wielding of market power by some wholesalers.

HAL in fact saved virtually all its criticism for wholesalers, a rather surprising position given the focus of the ACCC review and given the nature of their submission whereby many of the claims being made are relying on anecdotal evidence and hearsay.

HAL’s decision to directly weigh into the highly charged political debate regarding supply chain issues is interesting given both how the organisation is funded by industry levies and government funding and with the divergence of views which exist.

It is also ironic that while HAL has been quick to blame the wholesaling sector, nothing was raised in their submission about the other significant issues which contribute to disputes within the industry.

These include the lack of national grade standards, over-production and the over-supply of produce leading to glutted markets, the poor performance of the export market and the existence of inconsistent biosecurity protocols for the movement of certain products between States.

The submissions being made can be viewed on the ACCC's website – www.accc.gov.au - under the heading of 'Industry Regulation and Price Monitoring', and subheading of 'Groceries'.