Establishment of FWPA
Forest and Wood Products Australia (FWPA) replaced the statutory body,
Forest
and Wood Products Research and Development Corporation (FWPRDC) in mid-2007. FWPA is the industry-owned successor of FWPRDC and operates under the Corporations Act 2001.
All industry levy payers are eligible to be members of the company and include forest growers, managers, hardwood and softwood sawmillers, panel, plywood and veneer manufacturers, woodchip exporters and timber importers.
The previous body, FWPRDC was established in 1994 under the Primary Industries and Energy Research and Development Act 1989. Under this enabling legislation, the corporation was able to undertake research and development functions but was not permitted to undertake marketing and promotion activities.
In March 2006, the report ‘ Forest and Wood Products Australia : a proposal to establish a new entity to deliver marketing & promotion and research & development to the
Australian
Forest
and Wood Products Industry’ was released (see this link). The report had been prepared by the Steering Committee of the Forests and Wood Products Council (of which NAFI is a member) and was funded by the FWPRDC. The report identified a number of critical challenges facing the forest and wood products industry.
To address these concerns the report outlined the proposal for the establishment of a company nominally called ‘Forests and Wood Products Australia’ which is designed to deliver market driven research and development (R&D) and generic marketing and promotion for the Australian forest and wood products industry.
The report outlined the need for generic marketing and promotion and proposed a new company structure to deliver this and R&D services to the industry. It also outlined the requirements that needed to be met before the proposal could be implemented and the necessary Commonwealth legislation enacted.
Following these proposals,
Australia
’s forest industry was asked to vote on a new approach to national research and development and wood promotion and marketing. The proposal involved a number of components, including:
§ Transition of the FWPRDC from a statutory body to an industry owned company, FWPA;
§ Increased funding for FWPA from:
§ A levy of 5 cents per m³ of all logs to be paid for by forest/plantation growers and timber
plantation Managed Investment Scheme (MIS) managers; and
§ An increase in the existing hardwood sawlog levy to 29 cents per m³, in line with the softwood sawlog levy.
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) was engaged to manage the ballot which was conducted between 20 March and 21 April 2006 . The ballot was counted on 28 April 2006 in the AEC offices in
Sydney
. As a whole, the industry voted in favour of the proposal to establish FWPA – 310 votes in favour to 118 against. All sectors voted in favour of the proposal except for the Panels sector, where the vote was evenly split, and the Hardwood Sawlog and Cypress Sawlog sectors who voted against the proposal.
The Growers/MIS Managers voted to support the proposal to raise a levy of 5 cents per m³ - 143 votes in favour, 41 against. The Hardwood Sawmillers voted against the proposal to increase the hardwood sawlog levy by 7 cents per m³- 22 votes in favour, 54 against. More information on the results of the ballot can be found at this link.
As a result of the ballot the Federal Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation was asked to proceed with the introduction of the legislation required to give effect to the proposal, which occurred in mid 2007.
Funding for FWPA
FWPA will continue to receive the current R&D funding via levies from industry and the matched funds from the Commonwealth Government (this level of funding will not be diminished). In addition, the levy base will be expanded to include a grower flat rate levy of 5 cents per m3 of log sold (this commenced on 1 November 2007) and an increase in the hardwood sawlog levy by 7 cents per m3 to 29 cents per m3.
FWPA activities are divided into two main funding streams, firstly R&D which attracts matching government funding and secondly marketing and promotion which will not be matched by the Government.
The funding allocation for each stream will be set by the Board of the FWPA within any constraints set by the funding agreement with the Government. There is no anticipated change to the level of funding of existing R&D projects, while it is anticipated that around $2 million will be available for the marketing and promotion program per annum.
More Information
To find out more about FWPA telephone (03) 9614 7544 or visit their website at www.fwpa.com.au.
Further information on the levies collection process can be obtained from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’s Levies Revenue Service at www.daff.gov.au/levies.
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