Auditing Bulk Exporters

Under the Wheat Export Marketing Act 2008 (the Act) WEA can require:

Information and/or documents from accredited wheat exporters.
An accredited wheat exporter to appoint an external auditor.

Penalties apply for non-compliance with these requirements. For further information on penalties click here.

Request for information and/or documents from accredited exporters

Under section 25 of the Act WEA can obtain information or documents from an accredited wheat exporter. WEA will advise an accredited exporter of the requirement by written notice and allow no less than 14 days for the provision of the information.

Direction to appoint an external auditor

In accordance with section 31 of the Act, WEA can direct an accredited wheat exporter to arrange for an external auditor to carry out an audit and to provide WEA with a written report setting out the audit results.

An audit can be requested in relation to the following matters:

the accredited wheat exporter’s compliance with one or more conditions of accreditation under the bulk Wheat Export Accreditation Scheme (Bulk Scheme).
the accuracy of information given to WEA by the accredited wheat exporter (whether orally, in writing or by any other means).
the accuracy of one or more statements made in the application that were considered in the assessment of the application for accreditation.

If the audit relates to the accredited wheat exporter’s compliance with conditions of accreditation, WEA may request the auditor provide:

An assessment of the accredited wheat exporter’s existing capacity to comply with one or more conditions of accreditation under the Bulk Scheme.
An assessment of what the accredited wheat exporter will need to do, or continue to do, to comply with one or more conditions of accreditation under the Bulk Scheme.

WEA will make the request in writing which will specify the matters to be covered by the audit, the form of the audit report, the kind of details it is to contain and the deadline for providing the audit report.

WEA may, in writing, authorise a specified individual or body to be the external auditor.

WEA may also conduct random audits of accredited exporters, as part of its ongoing monitoring activities.

Reimbursement

If an accredited wheat exporter has incurred reasonable expenses in complying with the requirement to appoint an external auditor WEA must, on behalf of the Commonwealth, reimburse those expenses.