FIVE grain companies have been given the nod to export wheat under the new bulk wheat export arrangements.
And only one of the domestic grain industry’s traditional "big four" are among them.
Wheat Exports Australia (WEA) on Tuesday announced Cargill Australia Ltd, Elders Toepfer Grain Pty Ltd, Goodman Fielder Consumer Foods Pty Ltd, Grain Pool Pty Ltd and OzEpulse Pty Ltd had all been given export accreditation.
AWB, ABB, GrainCorp and the Emerald Group were all absent from the list however are expected to receive their authorisation in coming weeks.
Acting WEA chief executive Peter Woods said it was likely there would be another announcement of companies receiving accreditation in a couple of weeks, pending WEA getting all the information it needed.
"With some of the applications, we needed a little extra information - sometimes we got it immediately, and with others it has taken a bit of time.
"We just need time to go through the applications in detail before we make our decisions."
He defended the time-frame of the accreditation process, saying WEA had not received all the applications on the July 1 opening date of the new export arrangements.
There has been some criticism, notably from Opposition agriculture spokesman Nigel Scullion, that companies were in the dark about whether they would receive accreditation less than a month away from harvest beginning in earnest in central Queensland and northern WA.
"We want to be responsive and get as many applicants accredited as we can," Mr Woods said.
"We appreciate the need for exporters, growers and the industry to know as soon as possible who has been accredited and have been very focused on assessing the applications in a rigorous and timely manner," Mr Woods said.
He said he did not believe there would be an annual harvest deadline issue for companies, which had to reapply each year for the accreditation.
"Businesses will know they have to reapply for new accreditation three months before their present one runs out, so it should be something that can be managed without getting too close to harvest before a decision is made."
AWB chairman Gordon Davis said the fact AWB had not received accreditation highlighted the need for more constitutional change at the company.
He confirmed AWB had applied for accreditation but said there were no guarantees that the company would receive a bulk wheat export licence while it retained an outdated governance structure.
Mr Davis said this week’s announcement by the WEA showed the single desk was truly gone.
"Anyone who thinks AWB can be retained as a surrogate single desk must now confront the fact that AWB has to compete against domestic and multinational grain traders that do not have constitutional constraints on what they do," Mr Davis said.
ABB general manager of marketing Peter Jones was confident his business would still get accreditation.
"I’ve spoken to WEA and they have said there is nothing more we could have done - they are just approving applications in groups, rather than in one big announcement.
"We’re in it for the long-haul so in the scheme of things a wait of a week or two is not going to make a big difference."
He was philosophical about the delay, saying it was necessary to protect the reputation of Australian wheat.
"We have got a good reputation and WEA has to be very careful that whoever it accredits is worthy of accreditation.
"By going through this process, there’s a good chance that this reputation is going to be well looked after."
Others within the trade were not as happy with the timeframe.
Several representatives from companies yet to receive accreditation, who declined to be named while their case was still being decided, expressed frustration at the bureaucracy involved in processing an application - especially given that the accreditation does not indemnify growers.
Mr Woods confirmed the accreditation did not equate to a guarantee to growers.
"Growers and the industry need to be aware that accreditation does not indemnify exporters or provide any guarantees relating to contracts or payments of any kind," Mr Woods said.
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