Dairy Goliath faces up to David in court

Fonterra faces the Commerce Commission and the Tatua dairy company in the High Court at Wellington today.

The hearing is the latest episode in a long-running technical dispute relating to the interpretation of the Dairy Restructuring Act.

The dispute began when the giant dairy co-operative challenged a determination by the commission, which in June 2003 set a discount rate of 11.7 per cent for calculating Fonterra's annualised share value for the 2001-2002 season.

Fonterra has since dropped its challenge but now faces a counterclaim by the commission and tiny rival Tatua.

Fonterra will today argue that the counterclaims should be struck out. The commission and Tatua will argue they should be heard.