It has been a hard-fought victory for the bulk handlers, who have been forced to redraft their access submissions twice, after the ACCC did not accept the arrangements.

In handing down its approval on Tuesday, the ACCC has paved the way for Wheat Exports Australia to be able to re-accredit the three bulk handlers, which also have large marketing businesses, for wheat export licenses.

WEA would not comment on a timeframe as to when accreditation would be granted.

The three bulk handlers took their full quota of time to forge the access regimes, with the deadline for the arrangements being in place falling today (October 1).

The ACCC said it was now confident all port operators had agreements in place which assured the prohibition of anti-competitive behaviour, had improved transparency and had a clearly defined set of terms and conditions.

It stressed the arrangements do not extend to 'up-country' supply chains, as the Wheat Export Marketing Act makes clear that the current process is intended to provide for access to the ports only.

CBH chief executive Andrew Crane welcomed the ACCC’s decision, saying it gave WA growers certainty regarding the operations of CBH into the future.

"We are pleased the ACCC has acknowledged our ability and intent to provide fair and equitable access to all port users," he said.

"We have dedicated a vast amount of time and resources to working through this process with the ACCC and we have worked rapidly over the past month to understand and address the concerns raised in their first draft decision."

ABB, now owned by Canadian business Viterra, was also pleased with the announcement.

Viterra chief operating officer Fran Malecha said the decision should give growers confidence.

"We believe this should provide both growers and marketers with full confidence that ABB Grain is operating our ports with the intent of maximising throughput for the benefit of all parties," Mr Melcha said.

"ABB Grain remains confident it will now achieve renewal of its wheat export licence from Wheat Exports Australia to continue its wheat export program in the coming months."

GrainCorp chose not to comment on the decision.