SPC woes spark call for swift canned fruit inquiries
The federal Liberal Member for Murray, Sharman Stone, is urging the Productivity Commission to move as quickly as possible on inquiries into the canned fruit and tomato industries.
The commission will investigate whether emergency tariffs or quotas are needed to help SPC Ardmona and other preserved fruit producers.
SPC Ardmona has had to slash its fruit intake because it cannot compete with cheaper imported products.
Dr Stone says action can be taken quickly if the inquiries confirms the industry has been devastated by sudden, unexpected events.
How much worse can it get than having to bulldoze your trees, only having half your contracts able to be filled?" she said.
"SPC is no longer able to export, it used to export 30 per cent, so I would hope the Productivity Commission could very quickly confirm that, yes, this has almost terminally hurt a fabulous local preserved fruit industry."
The Victorian Government has set up a $2 million employment fund and a stakeholder group to help growers and orchard workers who will be without an income next season because of the cuts.
Dr Stone says more financial support is needed.
"But we also need that three and a half thousand dollars per hectare for our growers so they don't have a fruit fly, problem-moth type disaster because quite frankly they don't have the funds right now to do all that pest controlling that normally they would be doing," she said.
Source: ABC News, 24 June 2013
