Australia’s Competition Watchdog Launches Broader Probe into Dairy Sector

26 Aug 2016 –-- Australia's competition watchdog is to launch a more wide-ranging probe into the country's dairy sector, according to Australia's agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce.

The probe comes amid concern about the activities of dairy processors Murray Goulburn and Fonterra which cut their farm gate prices by nearly 20 percent in April this year.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) had already disclosed it was launching an investigation into whether the milk processors behaved unfairly in cutting milk prices.

Now, it is to launch a broader probe on top of the initial investigation.

The new probe will allow it to compel companies to produce information as well as having powers of prosecution if required. 

It will begin in November this year and is expected to be completed in the second half of the year.

It will scrutinise competition issues and the impact that international and domestic milk prices have on Australian farmers.

According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, Joyce said: “This takes our level of investigation into the current situation into a more forensic form."

"We are going to make sure that we get to the bottom of how this situation happened and we won't let it happen again."

He added: "An in-depth and independent inquiry is a thorough and fair way to uncover inefficiencies and inequities that our farmers face - and identify a way forward." 

The move by Murray Goulburn and Fonterra to cut the amount they pay farmers for their milk left some farmers in economic difficulty.