In this edition: 15th Global Forum on Food and Agriculture
Image: Minister Watt and Mr Cem Özdemir, Germany's Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture in discussion at the 15th GFFA in Berlin.
In January, the world's largest gathering of agriculture ministers met at the Berlin Agriculture Ministers' Conference (BAMC), as part of the 15th Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) in Germany. Ministers expressed their shared commitment to building resilient food systems in the face of increasing climate challenges, through the adoption of a strong ministerial statement of unity in the 2023 Communiqué – Food Systems Transformation: A Worldwide Response to Multiple Crises.
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator the Hon Murray Watt, made the most of his opportunity to discuss the challenges ahead for agriculture and food systems adding that in the last few years, our global agriculture and food systems have become more vulnerable.
Minister Watt spoke of the impacts of climate change and the twin challenge of growing more food while managing increasingly volatile weather patterns.
He reiterated the importance of global trade that is predictable, transparent, rules-based and non-discriminatory in addressing food insecurity issues.
The Minister was also a strong advocate for Aussie agriculture and improved market access through the Australia-EU Free Trade Agreement, in meetings with the EU Commissioner for Agriculture, EU Member State ministers. Minister Watt also had several conversations with his Ukrainian counterpart Mr. Mykola Solskyi, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food.
Further details from GFFA are available at Global Forum for Food and Agriculture 2023 – GFFA 2023 (gffa-berlin.de).
New market opportunities in India and UK
Image: Australian producers and exporters are set to benefit from new free trade agreements with India and the UK.
Image: Australian 'Hass' avocado producers to benefit from a new trade agreement with India.
Market access agreement for Australian 'Hass' avocados to India
Australia and India have agreed to a two-way agricultural trade outcome which will provide new market access for Australian 'Hass' avocados to India and Indian okra to Australia.
The agreement presents a significant opportunity for the Australian avocado industry that is estimated to be worth $25 million by 2028. This provides export diversification and enhanced trade opportunities for the Australian avocado industry under the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI-ECTA).
As part of the agreement, industry will be required to successfully complete 10 trial avocado shipments to India before the trade protocol with India is finalised for broader trade. The department is working closely with industry to support the success of the trial shipments.
Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI-ECTA)
Australian agricultural exporters will see further market access improvements under the recent Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI-ECTA), with tariffs on Australian sheep meat, rock lobster, wool, most wood and pulp products, and hides and skins eliminated.
The AI-ECTA agreement reduces or eliminates tariffs on a broad range of agricultural products and provides new quotas for lentils, oranges and mandarins, cotton, almonds and pears.
Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement (A-UK FTA)
Australian agricultural exporters will have the best access to the UK market since the 1970s when the Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement (A-UK FTA) enters into force.
The agreement eliminates tariffs on over 99% of Australian goods exports to the UK and includes significant new and commercially meaningful market access for beef, sheep meat, sugar, wheat and dairy, and a range of other industries
AI-ECTA and the A-UK FTA provide new and commercially significant market access and diversification opportunities for a range of Australian agricultural commodity exporters.
Read more about: Subscribe to our monthly Agriculture Market Intelligence Insights newsletter.Sweetening honey exporters with more markets on NEXDOC
Image: We're sweetening the export process for honey exporters with more markets on NEXDOC.
We are moving away from time consuming paper forms to digital export documentation using our NEXDOC system - sweetening the export process for our honey exporters.
As we continue to build upon the 20 markets already available on NEXDOC for honey exporters, we have a new release coming on 30 March 2023...Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and the European Union (EU)!
In addition to moving onto NEXDOC, honey exporters sending consignments to the EU will benefit from electronic government-to-government certification (eCert). This means no more paper certificates as their export information will be sent directly to the importing country ahead of the consignment. This may enable importing authorities to clear your goods faster as they have the information ahead of time.
'Moving onto NEXDOC has been life changing' said one honey exporter.
As we continue to work with the honey industry to onboard more markets and certificates, we will be looking towards Other Goods, such as grocery items. If you would like to know more about the transition of other goods onto the NEXDOC system and what this might mean for you, keep looking on the NEXDOC webpage or contact us at EnhancedTraceabilityProject@agriculture.gov.au.
NEXDOC enhancements are being continually delivered for dairy, honey and apiculture exports. To keep up to date with the latest news visit NEXDOC Next Export Documentation System (NEXDOC) - DAFF (agriculture.gov.au) or email the DCSChangeManagementOffice@agriculture.gov.au.
New welcome pack will help dairy exporters navigate the export process
Image: Dairy exporter welcome pack now online.
Dairy exporters will be given a warm welcome and access to information they need to become export registered with a new welcome pack now available on our website.
The information is broken down into sections and presented in a user-friendly way, so those new to export can easily absorb the information and navigate through the process.
The welcome pack, developed in partnership with Dairy Australia, is one of a number of projects under the Dairy Exports Assurance Program (DEAP).
Developing more targeted resources and designing training and learning packages to address gaps in knowledge and capability was identified through the early discovery stages of the DEAP.
This welcome pack helps to improve industry's understanding of requirements and expectations when applying for dairy export registration and introduces those new to exporting to the free Export Facilitator service that DEAP introduced in February 2021.
Our export facilitators can provide technical information and assistance to dairy manufacturers who are looking to become export registered, and also assist registered processors and manufacturers looking for new opportunities in global markets.
Explore the new welcome pack on our website.
You beauty! (but what has cosmetics got to do with agriculture?)
Image: The department can now issue certificates for authentication of good manufacturing practice for cosmetics to assist Aussie manufacturers register their products for export to China.
The world is a very different place than it was back in 1982. That's when Australia's export laws for food and agricultural goods were introduced.
The global trading environment has continued to evolve, and Australia now exports a greater variety of goods to more places. Our trading partners are also seeking new, different and an increasing number of assurances for our products. Assurances that go beyond pest and disease freedom and food safety.
Like certifying good manufacturing practice in cosmetics.
The cosmetics industry came with a question: could the Australian Government certify Australian cosmetics where they satisfied China's requirement of demonstrating good manufacturing practice (to an accepted international standard) to register their products for the Chinese market?
The answer is yes! Using existing government certificate provisions of the Export Control Act 2020 (the Act) we have developed an application process and certificate. It's a similar process we use for a range of goods exported under the Act that we call non-prescribed goods or NPGs.
Beyond cosmetics, we're working to reform the ways we can formally provide assurance for all NPGs. This includes processed foods, honey, and edible and inedible animal by-products like wool, rendered products, pet food, and skins and hides.
Australian exporting businesses need export assurance that is flexible. That doesn't take a one size fits all approach. As importing country requirements become more complex and sophisticated, our system needs to respond with agility.
Find out more and join the export assurance reform conversation.
Organics exporters can now subscribe to receive Micor updates
Image: Exporters of organic produce can now subscribe to receive Micor email updates.
We're continually working to update and maintain the Manual of Importing Country Requirements (Micor) to give Australian exporters access to the latest and most accurate information about importing requirements of specific countries.
We want to make sure we're continually improving the Micor user experience, that's why last year we asked you how we could improve the Micor service with the Micor user survey.
You gave us some great suggestions. We have used your feedback to enable a site-wide search. This means you can now search the whole of Micor from the homepage, rather than within each specific commodity area.
We also have a 'suggest a fix' function. If you think Micor content needs updating, it's now easier to let us know. Simply highlight the text you want updated and send us an alert. More upgrades are planned to ensure improvements can be made faster and more easily.
To make sure no one misses out on the latest info there's a Micor weekly email that lists all the updates made to Micor in the previous week. Exporters of goods labelled organic, bio-dynamic or similarly labelled products can now also subscribe to receive notification of organics updates in Micor.
You can also subscribe to receive weekly Micor updates for meat, dairy, live animals, eggs, fish, plants, and non-prescribed goods.
Modernising the agricultural levies legislation
Image: Modernising the agricultural levies legislation
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is working on drafting more modern and streamlined agriculture levies and charges legislation. You will have the opportunity to provide feedback on the draft legislation soon. The proposed consultation will be divided into 2 phases: Phase 1 – Early May 2023 Phase 2 – Late 2023/early 2024 The draft agricultural levies legislation proposes to: enable levies to apply to some agricultural services standardise and simplify the disbursement of levy funds reduce complexity and inconsistency of matching funding arrangements for research and development corporations reduce the number of Acts and regulations people need to read to understand their levies and their obligations provide greater flexibility in addressing compliance matters, and allow for a more proportionate response to non-compliance.
The key features of the framework will remain the same. Industry will continue to determine what levies are needed, how they work and what the rates are. Matching payments from government for research and development expenditure up to specified limits will continue. Subscribe now to provide feedback when public consultation opens in May 2023. South West Pacific Codex in focus
Image: Attendees of the 16th Session of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations / World Health Organisation Regional Coordinating Committee for North America and the South West Pacific.
Our membership of the international food standards setting body, Codex, helps us achieve better food safety and trade outcomes for Australia.
We represent the interests of Australian consumers, farmers, agribusiness, governments and the food industry to support the safety and success of Australian food production and exports, through Codex.
We recently attended the 16th session of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization Regional Coordinating Committee for North America and the South West Pacific in Fiji.
The committee examined the food safety situation in the region, discussed current and emerging issues, and prioritised areas for investment to build food safety capacity in the South West Pacific.
Dr Steve Wearne, Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), attended the Fiji meeting and we also welcomed him to Canberra during his visit to the region from the UK. We discussed how Australia is modernising the regulation of food imports and exports to facilitate safe food trade.
Strengthening engagement and participation in Codex in the Pacific region enables us to influence future work on food standards. Last year we also co-hosted a productive two-day workshop in New Zealand with 11 Codex member countries of the South West Pacific.
Our work with Codex continues in May 2023, when we host the 26th session of the Codex Committee of Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems in Hobart.
Find out more about our work with Codex.
Modernising food import and export systems through international standards
Image: Celebrating 60 years of Codex at CCFICS26.
Australia will host the 26th Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS) from 1 – 5 May 2023 in Hobart, Tasmania.
This will be the first meeting of CCFICS to be held in a hybrid format – both in-person and online.
The CCFICS secretariat is part of the department's Export and Veterinary Services Division with representatives from across the division making up the Australian Delegation to CCFICS. CCFICS attracts more than 150 international delegates representing many of the 189 Codex members as well as observer organisations.
The Committee is set to discuss draft work including guidelines on recognition and maintenance of National Food Control Systems (NFCS), consolidated Codex Guidelines related to equivalence texts, Guidance on the Prevention and Control of Food Fraud, and reviewing the existing Principles for Traceability Product Tracing as a Tool within a Food Inspection System (CXG 60-2006). In addition, Principles and Guidelines on the Use of Remote Audit and Verification in Regulatory Frameworks will be on the agenda, which is being led by Australia along with the Co-Chairs of Canada, Singapore and China.
The work of CCFICS is crucial in assisting our efforts to modernise our food safety systems and support a profitable and resilient agricultural sector. If you would like to get involved with the relevant streams of work, please email codex.contact@agriculture.gov.au.
Find out more about CCFICS.
Help us shape agricultural policies and programs by having your say.
Your views can help us shape initiatives and responses to issues so we can work together to support the success of Australian agricultural trade and industries.
We've made it easy for you to give us feedback through our 'Have Your Say' public consultation website.
Open consultations You can register to stay up to date on opportunities to have your say. Register now. |