THE shape and pace of the livestock export sector’s regulatory reform agenda is set to be the central debate at the industry’s national conference, LIVEXforum 2016, in Canberra next week.
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Australian Livestock Exporters’ chief executive officer Simon Westaway said LIVEXforum 2016 was built around the theme of ‘Striking the social balance: Regulation, Accountability and Profitability’.
“The LIVEXforum 2016 program reflects our industry’s commitment to ongoing reform and the importance of alignment with community expectations,” Mr Westaway said.
“Regulation is at the centre of everything our industry does with regard to our global competitiveness, ongoing profitability and exporters’ social licence to operate.
“Ensuring the regulation system governing our trade is the best possible platform on which exporters can conduct their business sustainably is an ongoing challenge.”
Driving the conference discussion on the topic of regulation will be Dr Michael Maxwell, an experienced agribusiness litigator and advisor with well-known Australian firm Clayton Utz.
Dr Maxwell has longstanding experience dealing with regulations that impose strict obligations in challenging international jurisdictions.
“From his work in recent years helping livestock export clients to manage their regulatory obligations and in advocating for improved laws governing the live trade, Dr Maxwell has a unique insight into the regulatory challenges facing our industry,” Mr Westaway said.
Dr Maxwell will outline the importance of revisiting and refining regulation, and the established ways of doing so as a way to address changing dynamics such as evolving community standards and technical developments.
He will also provide insight on common traps for participants in highly regulated industries and the hazards of regulatory uncertainty.
“Dr Maxwell’s presentation will be a highlight of LIVEXforum 2016. We are looking forward to a stimulating debate on what good regulation looks like, how it works and how it evolves over time,” Mr Westaway said.
“Good regulation is never a case of ‘set and forget’ and we need to contemplate how the rules governing industries like ours can be influenced in different ways, especially in different jurisdictions. “ALEC and LiveCorp look forward to hosting a timely discussion about the opportunities and challenges facing our $2 billion industry.”
