The ACCC has received an award from the International Competition Network and World Bank Group for its work to improve competition in the Australian dairy industry, which involved an inquiry into competition in the sector, and subsequent recommendation of a mandatory code. The dairy inquiry was completed in April 2018.
The annual contest recognises the role that competition agencies and government departments play in promoting competition and its benefits through activities other than enforcement action.
“It’s an honour to be acknowledged on the global stage, and this award is well-deserved recognition of the ACCC’s advocacy for an industry code to promote greater competition and efficiency in the Australian dairy industry,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said.
“The dairy inquiry found that the combination of imbalanced bargaining power and unequal availability of information between processors and farmers reduced competition between processors. At that time, neither the existing legal framework, nor any voluntary industry-based solution, sufficiently addressed these issues, so we advocated an enforceable code of conduct.”
“The dairy code came into effect at the start of this year and it has already increased the transparency of information that farmers need to compare rival offers, and removed some barriers to farmers switching processors where it’s in their interests,” Mr Sims said.
The ACCC received the award late Tuesday night, as part of the 2019-2020 International Competition Network and World Bank Group Competition Advocacy Contest.
Award winners in other categories included the US Federal Trade Commission, the Hong Kong Competition Commission, and Portugal’s Competition Authority.
