A statement of the Government’s economic policy on the dairy industry was transmitted to the Commerce Commission today, Enterprise and Commerce Minister Max Bradford announced.

Under section 26 of the Commerce Act 1986, the Commission is required to have regard to the economic policies of the Government as transmitted in writing by the Minister, when exercising its powers.

The purpose of the statement is to explain clearly new policies that the Government proposes to put in place around the industry’s proposed strategy and structure.

The statement follows the extensive discussions between the Government's Ministerial Team, led by the Minister of Finance, the Rt Hon Sir William Birch, and dairy industry leaders.

The Government’s intention, as reflected in the Dairy Industry Restructuring Bill, is to provide a regulatory framework that facilitates the growth of the industry, and that enhances the profitability of dairy farming.

“The last statement regarding the dairy industry was published in 1991, and subsequently revoked in 1995,” Mr Bradford said.

"It is timely that such a statement be transmitted to the Commerce Commission in view of recent developmentsThe Government last year advised the dairy and other sectors that it regarded the removal of specific statutory backing, including the export monopoly, as inevitable over time.

The Government invited the industry to consider how it might operate in the absence of such specific backing. The dairy industry has developed a strategy that would enable the export monopoly of the dairy industry to be removed from 1 September 2000.

ENDS

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