Regulations for Onion Levy Increase – Regulation Impact Statement – Department of Agriculture

24 June 2014

On 13 May 2014, as part of revenue measures announced in the Australian Government’s 2014-15 Budget, the Government announced changes to levies and export charges for the onion industry, commencing on 1 July 2014. The onion industry’s perception is that greater funding is required in order to avoid underinvestment in industry-wide research and development (R&D) and for marketing as well as capturing collective benefits for the onion industry. In addition, the industry considered the National Residue Survey (NRS) onion residue monitoring program no longer provides benefits to all onion growers, particularly those supplying the export markets and should be discontinued. There were also concerns with existing arrangements regarding biosecurity risk mitigation and funding the costs of the industry’s Plant Health Australia (PHA) membership. The preferred option is to increase the levy/export charge rate for R&D from $1.60 per tonne to $2.90 per tonne of hard onions, introduce a levy/export charge for marketing at a rate of $1.00 per tonne, decrease the levy/export charge rate for the National Residue Survey from $0.40 per tonne to zero, introduce an Emergency Plant Pest Response (EPPR) levy/export charge set at zero, and introduce a PHA membership levy/export charge set at $0.10 per tonne. The changes in onion levies and export charges for marketing and R&D will enable the industry to meet its strategic objectives and deliver improved outcomes for the Australian onion industry and consumers. The decrease in the NRS levies will enable onion growers to more efficiently meet their requirements for testing services and quality assurance certification. The proposed PHA levy and export charge would pay the costs of the industry’s PHA membership obligations. The EPPR levy and export charge will enable a mechanism to be in place for the industry to fund its obligations, should an emergency plant pest incident occur. The OBPR has agreed that there are no changes to regulatory costs. A single-stage Regulation Impact Statement was prepared and certified by the Department of Agriculture and has been assessed as adequate by the Office of Best Practice Regulation under the July 2013 Australian Government best practice regulation requirements in conjunction with the interim RIS process guidance note.