Dairy processors Brownes Food Operations, Lion Dairy & Drinks, Norco Co-operative Limited, Parmalat Australia and Fonterra Australia have each agreed to amend specific terms in their milk supply agreements to address the ACCC’s concerns these terms were unfair to dairy farmers.
The ACCC has been working with dairy processors over the past year to ensure that terms in the contracts they offer farmers comply with the business-to-business unfair contract terms law enacted by the Australian Government in November 2016.
“Farmers should be getting a fair deal when they contract to supply milk to dairy processors,” ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said.
Most processors have agreed to provide dairy farmers with the right to terminate their contract if the processor varies supply terms such as price or quality requirements, placing the farmer in a worse position.