Export Wheat Commission

The Wheat Export Authority (WEA) is the Australian federal authority responsible for the oversight and regulation of Australia's single desk wheat export arrangements, under which a single company is given a near monopoly on exporting wheat. It was established 1 July 1999 as part of the Australian Wheat Board (AWB) entity. It was felt that a number of the tasks carried out by the previously government-owned AWB would not be appropriate for a privately-owned body; thus, the WEA was established. The AWB is controlled by a 5-member board of directors, appointed by the federal minister.

The main tasks of the WEA are to monitor, regulate and report to the government on AWB Limited, and to consider, issue and enforce licenses for parties other than AWB to export wheat from Australia. (Non-AWB exports are permitted, but only in limited volumes and circumstances.)

AWB Iraqi kickbacks scandal

In the course of the Cole inquiry into allegations that AWB paid kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime for wheat shipments under the Oil-for-Food Program, it was revealed that the WEA board, upon hearing of the allegations through media sources, limited its investigation of AWB to asking them whether they were in fact paying kickbacks, and then accepting their denials without any further inquiry.