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The
Australian sugar industry welcomes the decision of the Australian
Government to support the first phase of the industry’s Five-year
Trade Policy and Market Access (TP&MA) strategy.
The
strategy is the culmination of multiple years’ analysis and
discussion across industry stakeholder groups. It has nine action
plans and five broad objectives which are:
- Achieve
a fairer global playing field free of export subsidies, and
trade distorting domestic price supports;
- Maximise
export revenues by focussing on the highest-returning global
markets;
- Look
‘over-the horizon’ to identify potential new global growth
markets;
- Address
a number of technical barriers to trade; and
- Better
understand the environmental requirements of global
customers.
Given
the Australian sugar industry derives most of its revenue from
export raw sugar sales, trade policy and market access remains a
priority for the industry. Successful implementation of the
strategy will lead to a diversification of export markets, with
increased industry returns. This will have the flow-on effect of
enhancing the economies of Queensland’s sugar communities and
help the industry deliver its share of the Australian
agricultural sector’s ambition, to become a $100 billion industry
by 2030.
The
$592,900 grant, provided under the Agricultural Trade &
Market Access Cooperation program, will fund four action plans
and the first year of the Strategy’s implementation. The four
plans relate to the recent win against India at the World Trade
Organisation; meeting environmental requirements for accessing
global markets; identifying new markets and improving procedures
when exporting to Japan.
CANEGROWERS
Chairman Paul Schembri thanked the Federal Government for its
support of the strategy.
"With
85 per cent of our raw sugar exported, securing access to a wide
range of markets is vitally important. The value of market
diversity cannot be understated,” he said.
David
Rynne, Director of Policy, Economics and Trade at the ASMC said
the growing and milling sectors looked forward to working with
key government agencies to ensure the successful implementation
of the strategy.
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