Australia’s agricultural exports are on track to reach a record-breaking $61 billion in 2021–22. The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) forecasts higher export volumes and prices for our major export commodities, despite Australia’s world-class producers and exporters facing unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Supporting our agricultural sector’s export growth is at the heart of the government’s trade reform program that is modernising how we regulate our agricultural trade.
Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment Deputy Secretary, David Hazlehurst, said investments in new digital technologies and regulatory improvements are realising long-term benefits for exporters.
‘We are modernising systems and expanding our market intelligence services to further support the continued growth of Australia’s agriculture exports. We’ve already made significant progress updating and improving our export legislation, and boosting our agricultural counsellor network to provide producers with greater opportunities,’ he said.
A cornerstone of the trade reform program is the export service, which in the future will be the sole place to manage agricultural export transactions online.
‘The department is committed to transforming how government provides services and we are working with users and industry to design a better customer experience,’ Mr Hazlehurst said.
‘A new streamlined export documentation system – NEXDOC – has also been developed and is being progressively rolled out to our agricultural industries, with dairy exporters already transitioning to NEXDOC.’
Mr Hazlehurst said that one of the greatest opportunities for growing Australia’s agricultural industries is increasing access to existing and new international markets.
‘For exporters, meeting importing country requirements is critical to ensure their products get to market. The department has made significant enhancements to the Manual of Importing Country Requirements (Micor), so that exporters have timely access to the best available information. Users can now subscribe to receive weekly commodity specific Micor updates to help them stay up-to-date with any changes.
‘Our overseas agricultural counsellor network – with additional resources in the United States, South Korea and Saudi Arabia – is providing further support by promoting Australia’s export capabilities and expanding market opportunities for our premium produce.
Together, these trade modernisation reforms will strengthen Australia’s reputation as a provider of high-quality agricultural commodities and support exporters to continue meeting importing country requirements, while also reducing red tape for industry.
Find out more about the reforms that are modernising Australia’s agricultural trade system at Transforming Australia’s agricultural export services.
