AFGC welcomes cuts to excessive red tape

Australian Food & Grocery Council
Friday, 21 March, 2014

The Omnibus Repeal Day (Autumn 2014) Bill has been introduced into parliament. The Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) has welcomed the Bill’s introduction, saying it marks the start of the government’s regulatory reform that will reduce the regulatory burden on businesses.

“If we are serious about growth, we need to be serious about regulatory reform, as excessive red tape has been a major barrier to business growth, investment and employment,” said Gary Dawson, CEO of the AFGC.

“Last year the AFGC released the Reforming Regulation of the Australian Food and Grocery Sector Report commissioned from Deloitte Access Economics, which concluded that the current regulation of food and grocery falls well short of best practice and may indeed be one of the poorest examples of industry regulation in Australia.

“There is real urgency in driving regulation reform for the food and grocery manufacturing sector while maintaining Australia’s strong public health and safety standards.”

According to Dawson, companies have been “hamstrung” by regulatory failures such as duplication, inefficiency and “heavy-handed, overly cautious and redundant regulation”. He claims these regulations are affecting innovation and productivity, forcing jobs and manufacturing offshore.

“Deloitte quantified the economic benefit of removing $100m of regulatory costs to be around $250m in additional GDP and more than 200 additional jobs for the food and grocery sector,” Dawson said.

“The food and grocery sector, Australia’s largest manufacturing sector, is very supportive of the government’s efforts to roll back costly, unnecessary red tape. We welcome the emphasis on bringing back an evidence-based approach to regulations that reflect regulatory best practice.

“The government’s approach reflects its efforts to setting effective policies that will enable industry to take advantage of the massive growth potential for the future provided we can boost competitiveness and productivity, and open up market access in the growing economies of Asia.”

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