This reporting year proved to be something of a watershed for the Import Risk Analysis (IRA) on the importation of fresh bananas from the Philippines. With Biosecurity Australia having declared in its initial draft IRA report released in June 2002 that the existing ban on the importation of Philippines bananas should remain in place, the banana industry was astounded to learn that the second draft report released in February 2004 recommended that Philippines bananas could be safely imported into Australia.
This complete about face was not backed up by any new science and it didn’t take long for the decision to begin to unravel. The CRC for Tropical Plant Protection was the first scientific organisation to publicly criticise the findings in the revised draft report and it was quickly followed by QUT and a number of other organisations and individuals that held very real concerns over the science (or lack thereof) relied upon to support the recommendation to permit the importation of Philippines bananas.
Shortly thereafter, statisticians working for the ABGC detected a number of serious mathematical flaws in the risk methodology used in the revised report which resulted in it being withdrawn for revision. An addendum to the report wasreleased several weeks later, at which time the ABGC’s statisticians uncovered still more mathematical errors in the risk modelling that left Biosecurity Australia with no choice but to admit publicly that yet a further draft IRA report would have to be issued to address the errors.
Federal Agriculture Minister Warren Truss subsequently announced that, as a result of concerns about the IRA, a number of changes would be made to the IRA process and to Biosecurity Australia and its staff – changes that are still in the process of being implemented.
We are waiting to see whether some credibility can be restored to this IRA process as Biosecurity Australia attempts to develop its third Philippines banana IRA report in five years.
The ABGC remains committed to bringing the best available science to bear in this IRA and has shown that it will not tolerate anything less on the part of Biosecurity Australia.
Imports Committee
The Imports Committee met seven times during the 2003/04 financial year. The committee is responsible for developing the industry’s imports strategy and was responsible for developing the highly successful Save the Aussie Banana campaign that was instrumental in garnering public support for the banana industry’s position on imports.
BIFF levy reinstated
The Banana Industry Fighting Fund (BIFF) levy was reinstated on 1March 2004 at a rate of 5 cents per 13 kg carton (plus GST). The levy was reinstated in order to fund the industry’s technical response to the draft IRA report released in February 2004 that recommended the importation of bananas from the Philippines. The levy will remain in place until the Imports Committee advises the ABGC Board that BIFF reserves are at a level deemed sufficient to meet any foreseeable imports-related contingency.
Plant Health Australia
The Council retains membership of Plant Health Australia on behalf of all banana growers. PHA has been active in a range of areas of direct interest to Australian banana growers, the most important of which was the negotiation and subsequent ratification of the Emergency Plant Pest Cost Sharing Agreement between PHA, industry and government members. This agreement will ensure there is an agreed process to be followed in the unfortunate event of an exotic pest or disease outbreak in a banana-growing region. The Agreement also provides for the shared funding of an eradication response, if eradication is deemed to be scientifically feasible.
Horticulture Australia Council
The Council also retains membership of the Horticulture Australia Council on behalf of banana growers.As the national peak industry representative body of Australian horticultural industries HAC has a large role to fill in ensuring that issues of concern to Australian horticulture are heard and taken seriously in Canberra.
HAC is a relatively new entity and is still establishing its credentials in the capital, but it can be said that HAC has been successful in lifting the profile of Australian horticulture in Canberra during this past year. HAC was also instrumental in gaining a commitment from both major political parties going into this year’s Federal election to mandate a Code of Conduct for the horticultural industry.
At an operational level, this year Bill Hatton resigned from the position of HAC Chairman with Stuart Swaddling from the nursery industry subsequently appointed to the position. HAC CEO Rob Bastian also resigned this year to pursue other challenges and has not been replaced at the time of writing.
Horticulture Australia Limited
Horticulture Australia Limited has been through a period of review this year, having earlier been faced with the prospect of having to knock back research and development projects on the basis that the Gross Value of Production (GVP) funding cap for horticulture close to being exceeded. A number of structural changes were made in an attempt to better forecast the demand for funds and to ensure each industry represented by HAL was given equal opportunity to have its top priority projects funded.
HAL also underwent a change of corporate image this year, with a new logo and website being launched. Much work has also been done on streamlining the project application process, which appears to have been well received by most HAL members.
ABGC restructure
As a consequence of an industry-wide review undertaken in 2003, the ABGC initiated a major organisational restructure involving a number of key elements. For the first time in its history, the ABGC is able to offer all commercial banana growers direct membership of ABGC rather than through their state representative organisations as was previously the case.
ABGC members are now able to directly nominate and elect Directors to the ABGC board, the representational makeup of which has also changed to reflect the shift in production from New South Wales to Queensland. The eight-member board will now consist of five directors from Queensland, two from New South Wales and a combined directorship for NT / WA.
A new Constitution has been adopted giving legal effect to these changes and which will place the ABGC on a firmer foundation from which it can deal with future challenges likely to face the banana industry.
Australian Bananas magazine
Australian Bananas is one of the most popular means by which banana growers access industry specific information. This is encouraging because an enormous amount of time and resources are invested by a lot of people in the researching and writing of the various articles for the magazine.
The role of Horticulture Australia Limited in the success of Australian Bananas, through its financial contribution to the popular R&D section, must be acknowledged. Support from our commercial advertisers has also been strong this year and we remain grateful for their contributions. I think this quality industry specific publication is a perfect example of what can be achieved with the support of your ABGC levy contributions.
Website
The website continues to perform well above expectations and attracts hundreds of hits per day. The website has been an invaluable tool for getting the NO BANANA IMPORTS message out into the public arena and has provided a media platform for the ABGC to run its technical arguments in support of its position on the Philippines banana IRA. We continue to explore ways of maximising the exposure the website provides our industry and ensuring that visitors to the website are able to access the information they are seeking in a straightforward and timely fashion.
Banana Congress
This year has seen much planning and program development undertaken in preparation for the Sixth Australian Banana Industry Congress to be held from 11-13 August 2005. Most people are unaware that planning for each biennial Congress begins about two months after the conclusion of the previous Congress, such is the scale and complexity of this showcase event.
Joint ABW/ABGC meeting
In February the ABGC came together with the Australian Banana Wholesalers and state banana representative bodies on the Gold Coast to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern. The meeting was productive, with general agreement being reached on the future of banana promotions and a range of other issues.
Australian banana promotions
In 2004 the ABGC was approached by the recently formed Australian Banana Promotions Company Ltd to act as the repository for funds collected for banana promotional activities and to manage the payment of accounts. It is also intended that the ABGC website will play a role in providing statistical data on the amount of promotional money being collected per state and the programs that are being funded from that money.
Board Directors 2003/2004
The Board met on the following occasions during the 2003/2004 financial year:
29 August, ABGC office, Brisbane, QLD
28 November, ABGC office, Brisbane, QLD
12 February, by teleconference
25 February, Canegrowers office, Innisfail, QLD
7 May, ABGC office, Brisbane, QLD
1 June, by teleconference
Composition of the Board for 2004 was as follows:
Mr PM Leahy (President)
Mr GS McCudden (Vice-President)
Mr WF McFie
Mrs VA Kippin-O’Connor
Mr CR MacKay
Mr K Lindsay
Mr PC Bale
Mr M Singh
Staff
On behalf of the Board, I would like to convey my thanks to the ABGC staff for their professionalism, dedication and commitment to the running of this organisation during the past 12 months. I am acutely aware of what a demanding year it has been with imports-related activity in full swing and major structural changes to the organisation being implemented but our staff have risen to every challenge.
Acknowledgments
On behalf of the Council, I thank the following organisations for the assistance provided at various times during the past year:Bananas NSW, Growcom, Banana Growers Queensland, Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Horticulture Australia Limited, Horticulture Australia Council, Australian Association of Banana Wholesalers, Acclaim Special Events and Meeting Management, local producer associations, research agencies, wholesalers, retailers, and associated service industries. Your support is much appreciated.
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