Kiwifruit trial start date postponed

File photo

Turners and Growers case against privately owned monopoly kiwifruit marketer Zespri has been postponed, due to "unforseen personal circumstances", the company said the afternoon.

Turner and Growers is claiming that Zespri breached the Commerce Act by trying to preserve its monopoly after deregulation by tying producers into exclusive contracts, trying to control kiwifruit exports to Australia in 2008/09, and trying to take control of new kiwifruit cultivars.

A five-week trial was scheduled to begin in the High Court in Auckland tomorrow.

The company would not elaborate on why the trial had been delayed, but said a teleconference would be held tomorrow to determine a new start date for the trial.

Last year, Turners and Growers appeared at the High Court to determine whether the kiwifruit export regulations purportedly giving Zespri a monopoly were unlawful.

The High Court found that the Kiwifruit Export Regulations 1999 were validly established 11 years ago and that Kiwifruit New Zealand, the industry regulator, had exclusive jurisdiction to consider complaints under those regulations.

Turners and Growers' appeal on those matters will be heard in the Court of Appeal in November.

- Susie Nordqvist / NZPA