Brownes Foods Operations (Brownes Dairy) has paid $22,000 in penalties after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) issued it with two infringement notices.
Brownes Dairy published two standard form milk supply agreements on its website in June 2020 which allegedly did not comply with the dairy code, the ACCC said.
ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh said: “One of the requirements of the Dairy Code is that processors ensure their milk supply agreements are compliant before publishing them on their websites, and in this instance Brownes Dairy published two supply agreements that were allegedly non-compliant with the Code.”
Keogh said Brownes addressed these allegations in the 2021-22 agreements, which it published last month. It has also informed its farmers that it will only use rights that are under existing agreements, if they are consistent with the terms of the new and reformed agreements.
The Dairy Code has been mandatory since January 2020, and aimed to improve transparency of the trading process between dairy farmers and those buying their milk.
Brownes Dairy are one of three major processors in the Western Australia milk market and is supplied by 50 dairy farms.
The ACCC said it is continuing to assess agreements published at the start of June and will address any breaches it identifies.
