FOLLOWING feedback from industry, the Federal Government on Tuesday announced changes to the Biosecurity Protection Levy (BPL) on track to be introduced on July 1.
The news came from Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Murray Watt as he fronted Senate Estimates.
While it has been cautiously welcomed by Australia’s two peak grain bodies, GrainGrowers and Grain Producers Australia, the National Farmers’ Federation and NSW Farmers can find little in the revised model to like.
Criticism is largely centred around a lack of detail on what each commodity will pay, and the model’s potential overlap with existing levies already paid by growers and others in the supply chain.