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A set of changes to the Horticulture Code of Conduct recommended by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has met with anger from the country’s horticulture industry, which claims the changes are unworkable.

The ACCC has recommended 13 changes, which include an extension of the code of conduct to cover exporters, reported the ABC.

Maxwell Summers of the Australian Horticultural Exporters Association said the changes to the code could be the final blow for and industry already battling drought and global recession.

“Australian horticulture export is the dearest export in most global markets, and in some instances we're not 20 per cent dearer, we're twice the price of, say, Chile or South Africa with similar produce, and I think this will probably be the straw that breaks the camel's back,” he said.