The Australian Competition and Consumers Commission (ACCC) has found Melbourne wholesaler Young Sang breached the Horticulture Code of Conduct in 2015.
Young Sang admitted it breached the code by trading with Queensland growers without a horticulture product agreement (HPA), a written contract between the trader and grower required under the mandatory Horticulture Code of Conduct, implemented in 2007.
The wholesaler wasn't able to publish or make its terms of trade publically available, leading to a court enforceable undertaking.
As of 14 September, Young Sang has agreed not to engage in trading with growers unless it has a HPA, or terms of trade; send letters to each grower its traded with since 2015 attaching its terms of trade or HPAs; and put a corrective notice on its website for 90 days.
“One of the key issues raised by industry participants at the ACCC’s recent horticulture and viticulture regional workshops was a lack of clarity and transparency of contract terms,” ACCC deputy chair Michael Schaper said. 'It is important that trade arrangements between growers and traders in horticulture produce comply with the [Horticulture] Code, and that growers have access to the documents which provides the basis of their business relationship with traders such as wholesalers. This helps to provide certainty for growers about contract terms.”
Melbourne wholesale representative body Fresh State has praised Young Sang’s cooperation with the ACCC, and stressed that the majority of wholesalers at Melbourne Market do comply with the commercial requirements under the Horticulture Code of Conduct.
Fresh State president Shane Schnitzler said while it works with wholesalers to keep them informed on the processes, that the code was “not a workable or fair documents for commercial enterprise”.
'Fresh State is currently working with all our interstate counterparts under the banner of our national representative organisation, Fresh Markets Australia in arguing for a fair, commercial and workable outcome,' said Schnitzler.
