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Report for Growers 2010/11

WEA has published the Report for Growers 2010/11.

The report provides an overview of the third year under the Scheme.

It includes an analysis of the 2010/11 marketing year as well as information on:

• the Government's response to the Productivity Commission Inquiry Report into Wheat Export Marketing Arrangements
• WEA's visit to South East Asia
• the history of wheat industry regulation in Australia
• world wheat price trends
• accredited exporter activity
• the operation of the Wheat Export Accreditation Scheme

You can view the report online or to receive a copy in the mail

WEA implements a “lighter touch” approach

On 23 September 2011, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Sen. Joe Ludwig, announced the Government’s response to the Productivity Commission Report on wheat export marketing arrangements.  Supporting this announcement, Wheat Exports Australia (WEA) has made significant changes to how it will administer the Wheat Export Accreditation Scheme (the Scheme).

The “lighter-touch” Scheme will operate within the bounds of current legislation until 30 September 2012.  In meeting the “lighter-touch” requirement, as announced by the Minister, WEA has implemented the following changes to the administration of the Scheme:

1. Conditions of Accreditation

   • Four non-mandatory conditions of accreditation are to be removed from the Instruments of Accreditation for all accredited exporters. Three conditions will be removed early January 2012. The fourth, a requirement to provide annual financial statements, will be progressively withdrawn prior to May 2012. This will substantially reduce the annual reporting requirements of each exporter.

2. Audits

   • The scheduled audit plan which saw an audit undertaken on each active exporter on average once every two years has been withdrawn. WEA will now only undertake audits based on identified, risk based issues.

3. Notifiable Matters:

   • The Notifiable Matters Guidelines scope has been narrowed to remove the requirement to report on changes to corporate structure and policies in addition to material deviations from forecast exports

   • The Notifiable Matters Form has been revised to make it simpler for exporters to report to WEA matters which may affect their accreditation.

4. Application for Accreditation and Renewal

• Both the Application for Accreditation and Application for Renewal forms have been significantly streamlined and simplified.

Commensurate with “lighter-touch”, the number of WEA Members has reduced from six to four.  As workload reduces, WEA will also reduce the number of staff required to administer the “lighter touch” Scheme.

It is important to note that, while the scheme will be “lighter-touch”, it will not be “soft-touch”.  WEA will retain its capacity to respond to any issues that may relate to the accreditation of an exporter.

Port Terminal Map

The map shows the 20 grain port terminals in Australia - the colour coded tags provide details of the associated shipping stem and related port authority.