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AHIC REAFFIRMS SUPPORT FOR EQUITABLE AND BROAD BASED LEVY

Written by Aust. Horse Industry Council
Friday, 05 September 2008
The Australian Horse Industry Council (AHIC) today reaffirmed its support for an equitable and broad-based industry levy. Such a levy will ensure government assistance for the horse industry in the event of a future emergency disease outbreak. AHIC President, Dr Barry Smyth, stated that passage of the Horse Disease Response Levy Bills through the House of Representatives was an important first step to enable the horse industry to become a party to the Emergency Animal Disease Response Agreement (EADRA). “Through EADRA, the industry is guaranteed the support and financial assistance of government in sharing the burden of fighting future emergency disease outbreaks” Dr Smyth said. “Successful eradication of emergency diseases also eliminates ongoing disease management costs, providing further incentive for the industry to become a party to EADRA”. “The ongoing viability of the horse industry could be compromised by a financially devastating disease outbreak. Involvement in EADRA is like taking out an insurance policy for the industry.” Dr Smyth noted that a necessary step for participating in EADRA was to arrive at a suitable levy mechanism, which will enable the horse industry to contribute to part of the costs of future disease responses. The levy is to be set at zero, which means that no levy will be payable until after an emergency disease response is over. The Agreement specifies that industry will be consulted up front about the amount of any levy. Legislation regarding a levy was passed by the House of Representatives yesterday, and now has been referred to the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee for further review and consultation. Dr. Smyth said, “AHIC is committed to contributing to this review process. It is an important step in ensuring that the Horse Disease Response Levy Bills provide for the most equitable and appropriate levy for the horse industry.” “Our longstanding view has been that the levy must be broad based and that the burden should be distributed across the horse industry, because everybody benefits from disease eradication.” “Our objective is to ensure that the final levy mechanism provides for widespread industry participation. The greater the number of participants in the levy scheme, the lower the cost to each individual horse owner.” “The Levy Bills currently provide for application of the levy to include ‘registered’ horses. We have communicated our concerns to Minister Burke that this approach might significantly restrict the potential number of levy participants .” “AHIC will be recommending to the Senate Committee that it reviews this particular aspect of the Levy Bills, with a view to clarifying these issues.”