NFF Horticulture Council holds workshop to streamline compliance

NFF Horticulture Council workshop highlights opportunities to streamline compliance

The National Farmers’ Federation Horticulture Council brought together growers, industry bodies, certification organisations, auditors and other fresh produce stakeholders at an in-person workshop in  Canberra on 25 March, 2026. They discussed how market-driven compliance can work more effectively across Australian horticulture.

The workshop builds on the Council’s discussion paper, Aligning an Ensemble: Opportunities for Tuning Market-Driven Compliance for Greater Harmony, and focused on practical, long-term opportunities to improve efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability.

Key takeaways

Participants developed a stronger shared understanding of how compliance confidence is created across the supply chain, and of the different roles played by growers, auditors, certification bodies, standard owners, retailers and benchmarking organisations.

Discussions also highlighted that current arrangements, while well-intentioned and often effective at managing risk, have developed over time without overall coordination, contributing to duplication, inconsistency and unnecessary cost – especially for suppliers.

Opportunities identified

The workshop identified several priorities for improving alignment across the system, including:

• potential consolidation or closer alignment of emerging retail requirements where goals are similar but expressed in different ways
• reduced conflict between international benchmarks and Australian law, policy and practice, while maintaining global credibility.

Participants noted that progress will require action across domestic and international settings, standards governance, audit practices and supply-chain relationships.

Supplier coordination a clear priority

A strong consensus emerged that suppliers need to be better coordinated in advancing shared interests. Participants agreed this is the most important enabling step for progress on both domestic and international compliance issues.

The workshop resolved that supplier representative bodies, including the NFF Horticulture Council and other relevant organisations, should convene to establish an industry-led working group to identify common priorities, develop shared positions and pursue practical progress collaboratively.

Participants also emphasised that input from across the compliance value chain—including certification bodies, standard owners and other key stakeholders—will be important to the group’s long-term effectiveness.

What happens next

The workshop did not make formal decisions on specific reforms, but participants strongly supported continued collaboration. The NFF Horticulture Council will keep engaging with attendees and representative bodies to help establish agreed next steps.

This article appears as part of the 22 May 2026 issue of Guacamole, our e-Newsletter.