Organic Operators Australia (OOA) has proposed to the Department of Agriculture for the establishment of an organic research and development (R&D) component within existing commodity levy instruments under the Primary Industries (Excise) Levies Act 2024, with the R&D component for certified organic products directed to a dedicated Organic Program within AgriFutures Australia. Certified organic products subject to the Organic R&D Component would be exempt from the standard R&D component of the applicable commodity levy, to prevent double imposition.
The Organic R&D Program would be governed by a dedicated advisory panel convened by AgriFutures, consistent with AgriFutures' established governance model for its levied industry programs. OOA would be contracted by AgriFutures to deliver defined industry services to organic levy payers under a service agreement.
This proposal addresses a structural market failure: certified organic producers currently pay commodity levies that fund R&D overwhelmingly directed toward conventional production systems, while organic-specific R&D priorities remain systematically unfunded. The proposal works within the existing levy architecture and is consistent with the foundational "user pays, user benefits" principle of the primary industries levy system.
OOA requests that DAFF assign a case manager under the Levy Guidelines process to assist OOA in refining and progressing this proposal.
News articles
Use this RSS link to subscribe to our news direct to your mail app