Road Transport Forum chief executive Ken Shirley has acknowledged the action taken by Fonterra to reduce its payment times to small and medium suppliers and contractors.
"Fonterra's previous policy was blatantly unfair to these smaller businesses, and was really just using them as a cheap form of finance," he said.
"It was quite an outrageous practice, and we are pleased that they have dropped it.
"It is good to see Fonterra bucking the growing international trend for large companies to extend payment times," he added.
"Over the last few years, and on both sides of the Tasman, there have been a number of examples of larger companies using this kind of corporate bullying to their own advantage and to the detriment of small businesses that depend on them."
