By LIAM DANN
The Commerce Commission has launched an investigation to determine whether dairy farmers can choose to supply companies other than Fonterra after the peak of the milking season.
The commission now has three investigations under way involving Fonterra.
Two other investigations concluded with no breaches found.
The latest complaint is also
the third relating to section 108 of the Dairy Restructuring Act 2001.
Section 108 allows Fonterra farmers to supply up to 20 per cent of their milk to a rival company.
Fonterra's interpretation of the clause requires farmers to indicate their intention to supply a rival by the peak of the milking season in October or refrain from doing so entirely.
The Commerce Commission would not comment on the latest case or say who had made the complaint.
The two other live investigations involving Fonterra date back to the middle of last year.
There were no decisions due in the near future, commission spokeswoman Jackie Maitland said.
"When there is new legislation involved there is a lot of information to be gathered," she said. "These things take time."
The number of complaints relating to Fonterra and the Dairy Restructuring Act was not unusual, she said.
For example, she said, there were seven investigations pending in relation to the 2001 Telecommunications Act.
