THERE’S still time left for industry stakeholders to contribute to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Cattle and Beef market study.

Deadlines for submissions, both formal and informal, close on Friday 6 May, but the commission stresses that opinions and evidence can be presented in a variety of forms, apart from report-style written submissions.

The ACCC’s Agriculture Enforcement and Engagement Unit is conducting the market study of the cattle and beef sector announced earlier this month. The study will examine issues surrounding competition, efficiency, transparency, and livestock trading in cattle and beef supply chains.

Submissions to the study will not be published on the ACCC website, and the ACCC will accept confidentiality claims over all or parts of submissions, as well as anonymous submissions.

“There are no wrong answers,” an ACCC spokesman told Beef Central.

Issues raised in the preceding Senate Inquiry into the effect of market consolidation on the red meat processing sector, and the ACCC’s own work led the ACCC to undertake the current market study.

“The ACCC considers that a market investigation will help identify any impediments to effective competition, and how they might be addressed,” it said when the study was announced.

Apart from more structured, written submissions, stakeholders can submit views prior to this Friday’s deadline through the following means:

• Telephone call to ACCC staff, who will take notes – contact Sheridan  (07) 3835 4681, or Braeden (02) 6243
• Emails can be directed to marketstudy@accc.gov.au

Consultation forums with stakeholders at regional locations in Queensland, NSW and Victoria will follow – likely in June this year, with locations and dates to be confirmed. This follows a similar regional forum process that has applied to equivalent ACCC market studies into viticulture and horticulture industries around Australia.

Beef Central will publish dates and venues when they are announced.

“But we encourage stakeholders to make submissions to the Cattle and Beef Market Study, rather than waiting for the regional forums,” the spokesman said. “The earlier we can hear about an issue of interest to the study, the more resources that can be devoted to investigating it,” he said.

Click this link to learn more about the study submission process.

Click this link to view an issues paper about the Cattle and Beef Market Study.