Better reflect the current needs of the agricultural sector.
The Government is making changes to the following agricultural levies at the request of industry to better reflect the current needs of the agricultural sector:
* Stone fruit levy: from 1 July 2023, at the request of Summerfruit Australia Limited, the Government will decrease the marketing component of the stone fruit levy from 0.441 to zero cents per kilogram of stone fruit, increase the research and development component from 0.539 to 0.980 cents per kilogram and maintain the Plant Health Australia (PHA) rate of 0.02 cents per kilogram of stone fruit. These changes will maintain the overall levy rate at 1 cent per kilogram of stone fruit.
* Rubus levy: from 1 October 2023, at the request of Raspberries and Blackberries Australia, the Government will decrease the research and development component of the rubus levy from 10 to 2 cents per kilogram of the fruit, reduce the marketing component from 2 to zero cents per kilogram of the fruit, and introduce a PHA component at 2 cents per kilogram of the fruit, to cover industry's financial commitments under the Emergency Pest Response Deed. These changes will decrease the overall levy rate from 12 to 4 cents per kilogram of the fruit. This measure is estimated to decrease receipts by $3.3 million and decrease payments by $5.0 million over the 5 years from 2022-23. Home Affairs