Month: March 2019

Indonesia deal a boost for Queensland agriculture

Queensland is in a prime position to capitalise on the signing of an Australia-Indonesia Free Trade Agreement.
Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner welcomed today’s signing of the agreement, saying it will be a boon for exporters of Queensland agricultural products.
“By 2030, Indonesia is expected to be in the top five economies in the world, and its population of 270 million makes it one of our most promising export markets,” Mr Furner said.
“In 2017 Australia exported around $3.5 billion worth of agricultural goods to Indonesia. With this new Free Trade Agreement in place we would expect to see that total increase significantly.
“Our efforts to capitalise on those opportunities will mean more jobs in a stronger Queensland economy.”
Mr Furner said Queensland would be particularly advantaged by increased exports of live cattle, frozen beef and sheepmeat, sugar and dairy products.
“Under this Agreement, by 2020 almost everything we export to Indonesia will be either duty free or under improved preferential arrangements,” Mr Furner said.
“Indonesia will guarantee automatic issue of import permits for key products such as live cattle, frozen beef, sheep meat, feed grains, citrus products, carrots and potatoes.
“It will also benefit our grain growers, with Indonesia agreeing to import 500,000 tonnes of grain tariff free.”

Key FTA outcomes:
Live cattle: Duty free access for 575,000 head of live male cattle per year, growing at 4% per year to 700,000. A review mechanism in year 6 will consider subsequent increases.
Frozen beef and sheepmeat: Remaining tariffs on all Australian exports of frozen beef and sheepmeat into Indonesia reduced to 2.5% immediately and eliminated after 5 years.
Feed grains: Duty free access for 500,000 tonnes of feed grains per year (wheat, barley, sorghum), increasing at 5% per year.
Sugar: Cut the tariff on Australian sugar to 5% (from 8-12%).
Dairy: Eliminate 5% tariff for milk and cream, concentrated or containing added sugar or other sweetening matter. Elimination of 5% tariff for grated or powdered cheese.
Citrus:
Mandarins – Tariff cut to 10% (from 25%) for 7,500 tonnes per year; tariff further reduced over time, down to 0% after 20 years for an unlimited volume
Oranges – duty free access for 10,000 tonnes of oranges per year, increasing 5% each year
Lemons and limes – duty free access for 5,000 tonnes of lemons and limes per year, increasing 2.5% each year.
Potatoes: Tariff cut to 10% (from 25%) for 10,000 tonnes per year; after five years tariff further reduced to 5% for 12,500 tonnes per year, increasing by 2.5% per year.
Carrots: Tariff cut to 10% (from 25%) for 5,000 tonnes per year; tariff further reduced over time, down to 0% after 15 years for an unlimited volume.
Honey: Eliminate 5% tariff on Australian honey after 15 years. read more