New Zealand kiwifruit marketer Zespri is hoping to split court proceedings brought against it by rival Turners & Growers between the country’s High Court and the New Zealand Kiwifruit Board.
Turners & Growers’ allegations that Zespri has unlawfully discriminated among suppliers and engaged in non-core activities in violation of the Kiwifruit Export Regulations should be brought before the Kiwifruit Board rather than the High Court, according to Zespri’s lawyer David Goddard QC.
He stated the Board would quicker address the broad set of evidence required by the “difficult, wide-ranging and speculative” case than the High Court, reported the Dominion Post.
The High Court was also not set up to deal with claims Zespri hadn’t complied with kiwifruit export regulations, Mr Goddard said.
The New Zealand Kiwifruit Board was established in 2000 to oversee and enforce Zespri’s adherence to the Kiwifruit Export Regulations 1999.
The board has the power to warn, reprimand, and impose financial penalties, compensation payments and cease-and-desist orders.
Turners & Growers, which has been vigorously campaigning against New Zealand’s single-desk kiwifruit export model, has argued that splitting the trial risks substantial delays to proceedings.
In June last year Turners & Growers brought its double-barrel case against Zespri, alleging the Kiwifruit Export Regulations 1999 – which grant the marketer its near monopoly – were unlawful and contravened the Kiwifruit Industry Restructuring Act 1999, read in light of the Commerce Act 1986 and the NZ Bill of Rights Act 1990.
Turners & Growers also alleged that even if the regulations stood, Zespri had contravened them. A full copy of the allegations can be found on the Turners & Growers website.
If New Zealand’s kiwifruit industry were to be deregulated, it would allow Turners & Growers to produce and export its proprietary Enza kiwifruit varieties from New Zealand as it does in other countries.
The company is owned by investment house Guinness Peat Group (GPG), chaired by corporate raider Sir Ron Brierley. GPG’s bottom line has fared poorly of late, posting its second consecutive yearly loss in March.
Sir Brierley has also stated he intends to retire this year, spurring speculation the investment house may sell its assets and wind up operations.
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