Summary

The Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC) has proposed that current levies in the honeybee industry might be replaced by a unified hive-based levy. AHBIC has suggested that a hive-based levy should incorporate all beekeepers, both commercial and non-commercial, on the basis that issues such as biosecurity are a matter directly affecting all beekeepers.

AHBIC has requested RIRDC to commission and manage a project to review the proposal to establish a hive-based levy, and report on its feasibility, implicaitons, and if appropriate, path to implementation.

Program

Honey Bee

Research Organisation

Garland Outcomes Pty Ltd

Objective Summary

To review a proposal by AHBIC that the current system based on levies on sales of honey and queen bees be replaced by a unified hive-based levy on all beekeepers in Australia, and to report on whether:
• the proposal could meet requirements for levy establishment and introduction, and if not, how it might be amended in order to meet those requirements; and
• once defined, to undertake an analysis of benefits and costs within a reporting framework that identifies the processes, activities and agency involvements necessary for preparation of a formal submission to the Commonwealth.