Dairy farmers in the South West can have their say during the final third round of consultation on the mandatory dairy code of conduct that sets enforceable minimum standards of conduct for business dealings between farmers and processors.
Member for Forrest Nola Marino said the release of the exposure code ahead of schedule meant that local dairy farmers would benefit from the mandatory code from 1 January 2020.
"The South West is an important dairy region and I've been advocating hard to get this mandatory code out for consultation and then up and running," Mrs Marino said.
"This third and final round of consultation will be open for four weeks, after which the code will come into effect in January 2020.
"Our Government also committed $560,000 to Australian Dairy Farmers to design, develop and market test new milk pricing and trading concepts. The Australian Department of Agriculture will seek initial feedback on these concepts while consulting on the code.
"We are delivering the mandatory code as soon as possible in order to provide clearer safeguards for how farmers are treated as members of the supply chain.
"Once implemented the mandatory code will improve the contractual arrangements between dairy farmers and processors, making sure that the contracts offered to farmers are appropriate and fair.
"We want to make sure that the mandatory code is representative of the entire local dairy industry, so I encourage all dairy farmers to get online and have their say."
The mandatory code is an outcome of the April 2018 Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) report into the dairy sector.
To provide feedback and find further information head to the Department of Agriculture's Have Your Say site by 22 November, 2019.
