WELLINGTON, June 6 (Reuters) - New Zealand’s government on Thursday said it would tighten its oversight of how the giant Fonterra dairy cooperative sets the price it pays farmers for milk. The change, which follows a review of the legislation governing the world’s biggest dairy exporter that was announced in 2017, means Fonterra must appoint a member of the panel that sets its so-called farmgate milk prices who has been nominated by the country’s agriculture minister. It would also limit the discretion Fonterra has in setting a “key assumption” it uses to calculate the base milk price, said Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. The New Zealand competition regulator has previously said the way Fonterra sets the price may have lead to farmers artificially receiving higher farmgate milk prices. “The other dairy companies felt it was too high .... (But) from the announcement today, it’s still not clear how big an influence that would have,” said Susan Kilsby, agriculture economist at ANZ Bank. Although she added that any impact could lead to lower farmgate milk prices. Fonterra said in a statement that it supported “greater pricing transparency across the industry and notes with interest the government’s decision that the Minister of Agriculture will be able to nominate one person to sit on Fonterra’s Milk Price Panel”. In May, Fonterra forecast a farmgate milk price range of NZ$6.25-NZ$7.25 per kg of milk solids for the 2019/2020 season, which begins this month, compared to NZ$6.30 to NZ$6.40 for the previous season. The new laws, which the government said would keep pace with a changing industry, would also allow Fonterra to differentiate the price it pays out to farmers based on factors such as environmental, animal welfare and sustainability standards used on their farms. (Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Joseph Radford)
New Zealand's government will conduct greater oversight of how much Fonterra pays farmers for milk following a review of legislation. Rival dairy companies had believed Fonterra's farmgate milk prices were too high and the changes could potentially lead to lower farmgate prices, said Susan Kilsby of ANZ Bank. New Zealand's Minister of Agriculture will now be able to appoint an individual to sit on Fonterra's Milk Price Panel, while Fonterra will be able to alter the price it pays farmers based on environmental, welfare and sustainability standards.