Have Your Say on the NSW Meat Industry Levy Regulation

Meat producers and interested parties across New South Wales are invited to provide feedback on proposed changes to the state's meat industry levy regulations.

The NSW Food Authority is seeking submissions on the draft Meat Industry (Meat Industry Levy) Regulation 2025.

This is a chance for organisations and individuals to comment on any matter relevant to the proposed new regulation.

Feedback can be submitted online, via email, or by mail.

The deadline for submissions is Sunday, June 1 2025.

This feedback period is part of an open process where all comments will be reviewed and could lead to modifications to the draft regulation before it becomes law.

So, what's going on?

The Meat Industry Levy is a contribution required from meat producers in NSW, specifically occupiers of land who are liable to pay an animal health rate to Local Land Services.

This levy supports essential food safety activities throughout the meat supply chain, ultimately benefiting the industry and consumers by ensuring meat is safe and suitable for consumption.

The current levy structure requires producers to pay $5 annually plus 0.6 cents per stock unit of notional carrying capacity, with an average levy around $14 and a maximum cap of $130 per producer.

The levy funds are crucial for several key activities. These include:

•Enforcing the branding of meat.

•Ensuring correct food labelling on meat products.

•Conducting investigations into issues like meat substitution, illegal slaughter, and unlicensed meat businesses.

•Participating in national standard-setting processes related to meat safety.

•Educating the meat industry through food safety program audits and inspections.

The proposed changes in the draft Meat Industry (Meat Industry Levy) Regulation 2025 are being put forward to remake the existing 2016 regulation.

Importantly, the proposed changes do not involve altering the current annual meat industry levy amount.

Producers will continue to pay the same calculation method ($5 plus 0.6 cents per stock unit, capped at $130).

Instead, the focus of the proposed changes is on administrative amendments.

These updates are intended to ensure the regulation remains relevant and fit for purpose, aiming to streamline processes for government and remove unnecessary red tape for producers while maintaining the necessary contribution to food safety activities.

Key proposed administrative changes include:

•Adjusting the date for issuing notices of levy payable to 31 March to better align with Local Land Services rates notices.

•Removing duplicated text concerning notifying changes in land occupancy or ownership, as this is already covered elsewhere.

•Eliminating a redundant $5 fee for applying for a certificate showing levies due.

•Clarifying that certificates of levies due and payable issued by Local Land Services do not need to follow a specific prescribed format.

•Making it easier for producers to dispute the validity of a levy by allowing these objections to be lodged with the Local Court instead of the District Court.

•Setting the interest rate on overdue levies at 2% above the Commonwealth Bank's overdraft index rate for businesses, consistent with how Local Land Services calculates interest on other overdue rates and levies.

•Removing outdated references to paper-based levy books, as land and producer details are already kept electronically.

•Removing the requirement to provide certain property identification and personal details of new landowners when giving notice of sale or transfer of land.

•Removing the requirement to provide certain property identification details when applying for a certificate about meat industry levies due and payable.

These administrative adjustments aim for improved clarity and efficiency.

After the submission period closes on 1 June 2025, all feedback will be carefully reviewed.

The draft regulation may be modified based on this input before the new Meat Industry Levy Regulation 2025 is finalised and becomes law.

Producers and the public will be notified when this occurs.