Regulation of agriculture

The inquiry focused on regulations that have a material impact on the competitiveness and productivity of Australian agriculture, with the aim of:

• defining priority areas for removing or reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens on farm businesses, where doing so would raise the productivity of farm businesses and wider economy
• identifying unnecessary restrictions on competition.

While the industry focus will be on agriculture, regulation imposed elsewhere in the supply chain - such as to meet the requirements of foreign markets - will also be considered if it leads to a burden on farm businesses which is significant and unnecessary.

The Commission was to have particular regard to:

• where there is greatest scope to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens and pursue regulatory objectives in more efficient (least cost) ways
• whether the current level at which matters are regulated (national, State and local) is appropriate and if there is scope for better coordination across governments to reduce unnecessary overlap
• whether Australia's farm export competitiveness can be improved by minimising duplication between domestic regulation and importing country requirements
• relevant regulatory approaches adopted in other countries.

The Government requested that the inquiry not examine regulatory issues affecting marine fisheries and aquaculture because they will be investigated as part of a separate Productivity Commission inquiry.