Mandatory Food and Grocery Code: exposure draft regulations

The Australian Government is seeking stakeholder views on the exposure draft of the Competition and Consumer (Industry Codes—Food and Grocery) Regulations 2024. 

These draft regulations make amendments to the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct to implement the government response to Dr Craig Emerson’s independent review of the code. These amendments include:

• making the code mandatory
• strengthening dispute‑resolution arrangements
• addressing supplier fears of retribution
• introducing penalties for breaching the code
• improving outcomes for suppliers of fresh produce.

Amendments have also been made to update and clarify various provisions of the code. Further details on the new regulations are included in the explanatory material.

The government is seeking stakeholder views on whether the amendments, including the details provided in the draft, appropriately give effect to the government response.

The government is consulting separately on exposure draft legislation that includes amendments to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CCA) to implement the higher penalty amounts agreed by the government in its response to the independent review.

The exposure draft of the regulations contains consequential amendments to increase the amounts of civil penalties in the code, which depend on passage of the proposed CCA amendments.

These amendments are included in Part 2 of Schedule 1 of the exposure draft of the regulations and identify the provisions that will carry the higher penalties upon passage of the proposed CCA amendments.