THE horticulture industry has welcomed the launch of Australia's anti-dumping commission.
The commission will be launched in the middle of the year after legislation was passed the House of Representatives last week.Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said commission would operate from July 1 and principally located in Melbourne.
Mr Clare said the commission was "the primary recommendation of the review into Australia's anti-dumping system'' led by former Victorian Premier John Brumby.
The report was released on November 27 last year and the Federal Government responded to the report in early December.
"Dumping is the unfair trade practice where imported goods are sold in Australia at prices below their normal value, injuring local businesses and their workers,'' Mr Clare said.
"Over the past 18 months, the government has brought to parliament five tranches of legislation to improve the anti-dumping system.''
Mr Clare said the reforms represented the biggest changes to the anti-dumping system in a decade.
"More reform is required - and I intend to introduce legislation in the next sitting period to implement further reforms,'' Mr Clare said.
Peak industry body AusVeg spokesperson Hugh Gurney said anti-dumping laws would assist the vegetable and potato industries in competing against cheap overseas imports.
Citrus Australia also supported the move.
"This will assist Australian manufacturing and primary production businesses compete fairly in a global market,'' chief executive Judith Damiani said.
"The import of Brazilian frozen concentrate orange juice is used to manufacture lower-priced orange juice drinks and cordials, and so it is important to keep monitoring their price points.''
