Australia: Watchdog takes Murray Goulburn to court over milk pricing

The competition watchdog has launched legal action against the nation’s largest milk processor Murray Goulburn, alleging it made false or misleading claims over farmgate prices.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission alleges between June 2015 and February 2016, Murray Goulburn misled farmers by claiming the forecast final farmgate milk price of $6.05/kgMS ($4.52 USD) was the most likely outcome for the financial year 2015/16, when that was not in fact the case.

The ACCC also alleges that from February 2016 until April 2016, it further misled farmers by representing it had a reasonable basis for expecting to be able to maintain its opening price of $5.60/kgMS ($4.19 USD) for the remainder of the season.

“The farmers relied on Murray Goulburn’s representations and were not expecting a substantial reduction in the farmgate milk price, particularly so close to the end of the season when it was not possible for them to practically readjust their expenditure,” ACCC chairman Rod Sims said on Friday.

Full Content: ABC News

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