Commission Accused Of Underhand Tactics

Probitas Press Release

The Commerce Commission has been accused of using underhand tactics in an attempt to close down a Bay of Plenty farmer who has developed a farming system that promises to undermine the established fertiliser industry.

The Commerce Commission’s prosecution of farmer Ewan Campbell and his company Probitas System Ltd. is the subject of a 60 Minutes investigation to be screened on TV3 this evening.

Mr Campbell says other than a letter the first contact he had from the Commission was when the Commission sent an undercover investigator posing as an avocado grower.

He said the Commerce Commission then employed the services of a scientist in the pay of the fertiliser industry to make the case against him.

Mr Campbell says Doug Edmeades impartiality as a scientist has been questioned in a number of cases previsously.

“He is a self-confessed opponent of organic methods having in a past given radio interviews against organic methods. That the Commerce Commission would employee him as a so-called expert witness is nothing short of ludicrous and to my mind demonstrates bias on their part.

“Mr Edmeades is a major shareholder and science leader for the company Agknowledge which does soil testing and fertiliser recommendations for farmers. Probitas is a direct competitor and has done work on farms that had used Agknowledges services in the past.

“Mr Edmeades edits Ballance Agri Nutrients Handbook, speaks at their field days and road shows and is recommended by Ballance Agri Nutrients to farmers as a consultant.

“Mr Edmeades has a complete bias towards chemical fertilisers and on the stand stated that the only products he had ever recommended were supplied by the two major fertiliser co-ops.

“What is more Mr Edmeades stated on oath that he had shared his brief of evidence with Ants Roberts of Ravensdown and Geoff Morton of Ballance before the trial. Both senior technical advisers for their respective companies.”

An email was also put before the court showing that Mr Edmeades had been hand in glove with the fertilizer companies discussing the case with the competition even when he said he hadn’t.
http://www.e-c.co.nz/probitas/pdfs/folder1/1.pdf

And Mr Campbell says the Commerce Commission has mysteriously lost tape recordings of conversations that would provide vital evidence to support his defence against the Commission.

Further Mr Campbell says although the Commission has spent more than four years trying to accumulate evidence against him it has not received a single complaint from any farmer who has used the Probitas System.

This is a blatant case of big business in cohorts with the Commerce Commission trying to close down an alternative system of sustainable agriculture that is producing amazing results.

“ It certainly isn’t the New Zealand I grew up in where innovation was applauded, it is now outlawed by the suits in Wellington who think they know what’s best for the farmers of New Zealand. Perhaps they should go and look where their food comes from in their posh restaurants and cafes.

Mr Campbell says that he was prosecuted by the Commerce Commission which had not visited a single farmer using his alternative farming system and had contacted only five farmers in total on the phone.

He says the Commerce Commission’s bias was evident from the start of its investigation when it acted on a complaint based solely on a leaflet the company put out and from a person who had not even bought or tried the product.

“The people using the system are extremely happy with the excellent results they are achieving yet the Commerce Commission has spent four years and a huge amount of taxpayers money because the traditional fertiliser industry is determined to have us closed down.”

Mr Campbell says in spite of supposedly being found guilty of false and misleading representation in the court and fined $260,000 (six months ago) he has never received a court order to this effect.

He says he suspects the establishment has realised the extent to which they have cocked up and are just hoping the whole thing would go away now that it is receiving national publicity.

ends

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