THE Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) has spoken out against the Federal Government’s proposed biosecurity protection levy, labelling it as a new tax on food and fibre.

The levy was announced earlier this year and starts on July 1, 2024, with the goal of helping to fund the cost of Australia’s biosecurity activities.

It will see producers join taxpayers, importers and international travellers to share the costs and is expected from 2024-25:

•        44 per cent of the biosecurity system cost will be covered by ongoing taxpayer funding.

•        Importers will be paying 48 per cent.

•        Producers will contribute 6 per cent.

•        Australia Post, 2 per cent.

VFF president, Emma Germano, said the proposed levy was unfair and would place added burden on Victoria’s agricultural industry.

“This is a fundamentally unfair tax that will needlessly increase the cost of farming, and the cost of food and fibre,” she said.

“The Albanese Government has proven to have no understanding of the expense and effort that farmers go through to protect biosecurity on their farms.

“Farmers are being expected to pay through the nose for something government should be doing as core business.”

The government said the new model was “based on shared responsibility - between those who create risk and those who receive significant benefits from the Australian Government’s efforts at the border”.

Ms Germano said the proposed tax would not be feasible given the difficulty in it being levied across different commodities.

“A single tax on agricultural production is fundamentally flawed because there is no standard by which to compare the different commodities we produce,” she said.

“Existing statutory levies paid by farmers vary. Some are paid on volume, some on value. Some industries do not even pay a levy. Basing a tax on the existing levy structure is a nonsense and completely unworkable.”

She said the government must recognise that protecting biosecurity benefits all Australians and should focus its attention on making those who create biosecurity risk pay.

“The government is so focused on pinning the beneficiary pays principle to one sector, it has forgotten that biosecurity benefits the whole community,” Ms Germano said.

“Everybody benefits from strong biosecurity protection whether it’s looking after our natural environment or the potential harm to human health. It is the government’s duty to protect Australia from these risks.

“The government should stop turning a blind eye to the importers who actually create the biosecurity risk and look at ways they can make a greater contribution.”

The levy is intended to collect around $50 million per year, equivalent to 6 per cent (on an annual basis) of the total Australian Government biosecurity funding in 2024-25.

It will be separate to, and will not change existing industry-led agricultural levies supporting research and development, marketing, residue testing, and Animal Health Australia and Plant Health Australia membership levies.