Aussie govt intervenes in sugar row; Wilmar to back down

Sydney

THE Australian government has made a rare intervention in the country's sugar market, effectively forcing Singapore-listed miller Wilmar International Ltd to end a two-year dispute with cane growers in the state of Queensland.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, under increasing pressure from his right-wing National Party's agricultural base, said late on Wednesday the country would introduce a mandatory code of conduct forcing millers such as Wilmar to allow farmers to choose who sells the sweetener after it has been processed by mills.