Regulation for Mushroom Levy Increase – Regulation Impact Statement – Department of Agriculture

19 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 for the mushroom industry to commence on 1 July 2014. The mushroom 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. In addition, the industry has noted that the capacity of the current rate of the marketing and R&D levy to fund priority industry projects has been significantly eroded over the last decade. The preferred option is to increase the levy rate for R&D from $0.54 per kilogram of mushroom spawn to $1.08 per kilogram, and the levy rate for marketing from $1.62 per kilogram of mushroom spawn to $3.24 per kilogram. This will assist the industry to meet its strategic objectives, including delivering improved outcomes for the Australian mushroom industry and consumers. The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) has agreed that there are no changes to regulatory costs. A single-stage Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) was prepared and certified by the Department of Agriculture, and has been assessed as adequate by the OBPR under the July 2013 Australian Government best practice regulation requirements in conjunction with the interim RIS process guidance note.