Page 4 - Australian Pork Newspaper

APL down in the dumps
JUST a few days prior to Christmas, in fact on December 20, Austral- ian Pork Limited an- nounced via a relatively inconspicuous post on its website that it’s been chatting to the Federal Government’s Anti- Dumping Commissioner Dale Seymour about how APL can expand its access to the anti-dump- ing and trade remedies system, in the event that dumping occurs.
liberalisation of global agriculture markets, con- sistent with Australia’s longstanding trade policy.
Cant
Comment
by BRENDON CANT
While acknowledging imports are a fact of life in the Australian pork industry, APL believes unfortunately sometimes overseas producers and exporters act unscrupu- lously by lowering their export sales prices to be- low the cost of production in their home market.
industry through unfair competition.
it notes it “doesn’t cur- rently assess that exports are being sent to Australia at unfair prices”.
The report stated this would require further investigation and a con- certed effort to engage the government.
APL should also con- sider further possible av- enues for safeguarding the domestic market from unfair import competition through use of trade rem- edy actions, such as anti- dumping.
APL says this is ‘dump- ing’ and can damage local
While APL states Aus- tralia’s pork industry has been the victim of unfair trade practices in the past,
How intimate the post- engagement relationship becomes and whether it’s consummated with a push for an anti-dumping claim remains to be seen.
As the practice is forbid- den under World Trade Organization rules, Aus- tralia maintains an anti- dumping system to identi- fy when dumping occurs, then takes measures to prevent or offset it.
It does, however, make the point that it sees the importance of remaining vigilant while maintain- ing and expanding its ac- cess to the anti-dumping and trade remedies sys- tem, in the event dumping does occur.
APL has now publicly announceditsengagement with government on that score.
Last month, Minister for Industry Karen Andrews apparently approved APL’s request to join the International Trade Rem- edies Forum, which ad- vises government on anti- dumping policy settings and is the key pathway for industry to recommend changes.
What’s also yet to be seen is how APL juggles its ever-widening com- mitments and publicly declared interests as it comes to grips with an unrelenting churn of peo- ple at the top of its heavily issue-laden corporate tree.
The APL website an- nouncement revealed that as an ITRF member in 2020, APL would be working with what it de- scribed as its allies (such as the National Farmers’ Federation) to ensure the anti-dumping system worked for Australian primary producers if and when needed.
The website anti-dump- ing post, by way of exam- ple, asks that anyone with questions or comments should contact Andrew Robertson, Policy Man- ager Trade and Workforce (andrew.robertson@aus- tralianpork.com.au or 02 6270 8888).
APL’s move into the anti-dumping space is in- teresting, particularly for those companies who im- port pork into Australia for the production of hams and smallgoods, for ex- ample.
Only one week earlier, on December 13, after I’d emailed Deb Kerr, Gen- eral Manager, Policy with APL, I was informed she no longer worked for APL and I should direct my inquiries to the most rele- vant member of the policy team, as follows: Trade & Market Access, Labour - Andrew Robertson and/ or Animal Health/Wel- fare, biosecurity & trace- ability - Alister Oulton; PigPass - Michelle Ran- dall or Media - Katana Smith.
Worth remembering is that in 2018 when there was overproduction of pork in Australia, abat- toirs and producers were selling pork into Asia at below the cost of produc- tion.
Aside from key manage- ment changes and resigna- tions, and there have been many in the past year or two, APL has also had to recently adjust to life un- der a new chairman after the September resignation of David Lock and a new CEO after Andrew Spen- cer’s decision not to renew his contract.
This seems to meet APL’s definition of ‘dumping’ and perhaps, therefore, is a case of the pot whistling at best or, at worst, calling the kettle black.
A while back, APL com- missioned ITS Global, an independent trade strat- egy consultancy, to exam- ine the global trade envi- ronment and recommend what APL could pursue in the interests of strength- ening the pork industry.
How workloads and policy priorities will be managed will emerge over time and how the new pair at the top of the APL tree, CEO Margo Andrae and chairman Andrew Bax- ter, work together to best make that happen remains to be seen.
Its final report was de- livered in June 2018 and topping the list of a hand- ful of quite bland rec- ommendations was that APL should continue to support and advocate for
Watch this space.
Page 4 – Australian Pork Newspaper, January 2020
While dumping may seem apparent to some observ- ers, proving who dumped what, where and how can
be difficult. www.porknews.com.au
Delivering Specialist Agribusiness Public Relations Skills that will build your business, enhance your brand, promote your products and sell your services, all backed by unsurpassed professionalism, experience and track record.
Contact Brendon Cant
M 0417 930 536 E brendon@iinet.net.au
Distributed by
Delivering superior performance in all situations
The Seclira range is powered by the unique active ingredient dinotefuran poviding rapid knockdown of target pests
Seclira WSG is broad spectrum insecticide providing a unique mode of action for y and mosquito control for external agricultural buildings
Seclira Pressurised Fly Bait’s convenient and easy to apply formulation is suitable for use in animal housing facilities
For more information on
the Seclira range, visit crop-solutions.basf.com.au
or contact your local CCD Representative on 1300 791 009
@basfpestcontrolau
ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW LABEL DIRECTIONS.
© Copyright BASF 2019 ® Registered trademark of BASF. W239831 12.2019