15 July 1999

Media release -

Special Select Committee on the Dairy Industry Restructuring Bill

A special select committee on the Dairy Industry Restructuring Bill is inviting public submissions on the bill. The bill is due to be reported back to the House of Representatives on or by Monday, 30 August 1999.

The closing date for submissions is 5.00 pm, Friday, 13 August 1999. Please note that only submissions received by the deadline will be considered for oral evidence.

The committee strongly encourages people and organisations to send in their submissions early. Submissions received prior to 6 August 1999 will have the opportunity of being heard on Monday and Tuesday, 9 and 10 August 1999.

The bill aims to provide a transition path for the dairy industry to move to operate within the framework of existing competition and governance laws. The key feature of the bill are:

The removal of the statutory powers providing for a single exporter for New Zealand dairy products with effect from 1 September 2000, conditional on the amalgamation of a number of co-operative dairy companies, and the amalgamation being authorised by the Commerce Commission;

Arrangements for markets where foreign governments exercise a high degree of control over the economic terms of access to their domestic market;

The introduction of a competitively neutral regulatory environment.

Copies of the bill can be purchased from Bennetts Government Bookshops. If a Bennetts Government Bookshop is not nearby, local bookshops can order them from Bennetts Government Bookshops.

The committee requires 20 copies of each submission. Those wishing to include any information of a private or personal nature in a submission should first discuss this with the clerk of the committee, as submissions are usually released to the public by the committee. Those wishing to appear before the committee to speak to their submissions should state this clearly and provide a daytime telephone contact number. For further guidance on making a submission, our publication Making a Submission to a Parliamentary Select Committee can be found on our web site at www.clerk.parliament.govt.nz.

Submissions should be addressed as follows:

R J Bunch Committee on the Bill Secretariat Parliament House WELLINGTON

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