New Zealand kiwifruit marketer Zespri has wonits bid to split the court casebrought against it by Turners & Growers (T&G) between the country’s High Court and the New Zealand Kiwifruit Board.
The practical advantages of splitting the case significantly outweighed T&G’s concern about delays, High Court judge Justice Douglas White ruled late on Wednesday last week. The decision was the outcome of a hearing on 27 April.
A preliminary hearing has now been set for 20-23 July to address the validity of the Kiwifruit Export Regulations and the High Court’s jurisdiction over the matter, and whether Turners & Growers' allegations that Zespri contravened the regulations should be sent before industry body New Zealand Kiwifruit - referred to in court documents as the New Zealand Kiwifruit Board.
The High Court trial was originally scheduled for a six-week hearing in November, but will now take place early next year, Zespri's Melanie Palmer told Fruitnet.com.
Justice White’s ruling concurs with Zespri’s argument that two of T&G’s claims, alleging that Zespri has contravened the Kiwifruit Export Regulations by engaging in non-core activities and unjustifiably discriminating between suppliers, should be addressed by Kiwifruit New Zealand.
Kiwifruit New Zealand was established 10 years ago to oversee and enforce Zespri’s compliance with the Kiwifruit Export Regulations.
Ms Palmer explained that the regulations expressly give authority to Kiwifruit New Zealand to oversee and enforce the regulations, making them the obvious forum to hears T&G's complaint.
She says a court has previously recognised Kiwifruit New Zealand has jurisdiction to hear such issues, rather than the court.
T&G filed the proceedings against Zespri in July last year, part of the company’s long-running attempt to break Zespri’s virtual monopoly over New Zealand’s kiwifruit exports outside of Australasia.
