New Dairy Industry Code of Conduct
With supermarket brand milk selling across the country at only $1 per litre as a customer magnet into the supermarkets, there has been a lot of noise about farmers and how much they are being paid.
As a result a new voluntary Code of Conduct has just been agreed to by the key players in the dairy industry.
Some of the components of the new Code include;
- A pricing formula or mechanism is clearly defined within a contract
- Pricing adjustments to farmers throughout a contract are clearly defined and that there will be no retrospectivity
- Suppliers to given adequate notice if step-downs are to occur
- Farmers receive all payments accrued over the term of a contract
- Processor exclusivity does not occur in cases where the processor has a contracted volume limit
- A clearly defined mechanism for giving notice of contract termination
- A clearly defined mechanism for modifying contract conditions, and giving farmers the right to negotiate variation