EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1989 NO. 242
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Primary Industries and Energy
DAIRY PRODUCE LEVY (NO 1) ACT 1986
DAIRY PRODUCE LEVY REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
The Dairy Produce Levy (No 1) Act 1986 (the Act) provides for the Governor-General to make regulations for the purposes of financing aspects of the dairy industry arrangements which are implemented under the Dairy Produce Act 1986.
The Act finances the arrangement by imposing four levies on the milk fat content of relevant dairy produce (whole milk and whole milk products). The four milk fat levies and the purpose of each are:
• the market support levy - to provide the moneys for market support payments on exported dairy produce under the Dairy Produce Act 1986
• the Corporation levy - to cover the administrative costs of the Australian Dairy Corporation which is established by the Dairy Produce Act 1986
• the promotion levy - to fund Corporation activity in promoting dairy products
• the research levy - to fund dairy industry research.
The purpose of the regulations is to set the operative rate of each of these levies.
The rates of the market support levy, the Corporation levy and the promotion levy remain unchanged, while the research levy is increased from 0.68 cents per kilogram of milk fat to 1.30 cents per kilogram of milk fat.
The new rate for the research levy was set after the Governor-General had taken into consideration a recommendation made to the Minister by the executive council of the Australian Dairy Industry Conference in accordance with subsection 14(3) for the purposes of subsection 7(4) (ie the rate of levy).
The recommendation was made following a review by the Australian Dairy Industry Conference of the industry’s research program.
The levy rate is below the permitted maximum rate laid down in subsection 7(4) of the Act.