Submissions to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on concerns about the proposed acquisition of Saputo milk processing plants by Coles closed on August 3. The ACCC proposes to make its final findings by September 14.
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In its statement of issues published in July, ACCC raised several areas of concern. It believes it is possible that sale of the Erskine Park (NSW) facility could see significantly less competition in the market for fresh milk, in several regions of NSW, and it is also concerned at the impact on the dairy industry if Coles decides to move processing from further north, or elsewhere, to the Erskine Park facility.
eastAUSmilk has made a submission in response to the concerns raised by the ACCC, and stressed it is not trying to force Saputo to hang onto milk processing plants it doesn't want, nor that Coles will harm the dairy industry recklessly. Rather, the eastAUSmilk submission stressed that the competitive advantage which would be enjoyed by Coles if it bought the plants, and the production opportunities they represent, would most likely see Coles make changes to its operations which could drastically impact markets as far north as southern Queensland.
The solutions proposed by eastAUSmilk focused on keeping competition in the NSW market for fresh milk, by encouraging Saputo to go to market with its plants, to see if other milk processors are interested, or alternatively encouraging a joint venture between Coles and another processor, or attach conditions to the sale which protect competition. In all cases, eastAUSmilk urged that the Dairy Industry Code be updated to address both this proposed purchase, and any other proposals for vertical integration in the industry.
eastAUSmilk has offered to work with ACCC to develop each of these proposals, because any solution will work better if it has dairy farmer input.
