WA food and agribusinesses can now access the current trends and insights on the growing demand for products in key Asian markets.
CCI’s International Trade and Investment Centre (ITIC) has just released three reports – on China, South Korea and Japan – with key data on major retailers, commercial issues and barriers and where the opportunities lie.
Agribusiness and food products including seafood, horticulture, meat, dairy and the food processing/manufacturing were ripe for export, ITIC’s Manager Michael Carter said.
“The purpose of the reports was to really unpack both the opportunities and the insights in those markets so WA producers can capitalise on the opportunities that are burgeoning for exporters into those three Free Trade Agreement markets,” he said.
“In essence, entering into markets with lower tariffs will make it far more competitively positioned for WA food and agri exporters.”
China imported 22 per cent of WA’s agricultural and food market products last year, making it the state’s largest market in this industry.
Ninety-seven per cent of exports from Australia to Japan entered either duty free or under preferential tariff rates, while South Korea – the 12 biggest economy in the world – will eliminate 98 per cent of tariffs by 2030.
While lots of information is available online for Australian exporters, the ITIC reports are WA specific with industry and overseas trade insights.
“That’s very important because, notwithstanding there has already been a robust export trade between WA and these markets. What these reports do is open up that opportunity even more so and create greater awareness for industry to understand the tangible benefits available through these FTA markets of SK, Japan and China,” Carter said.
“It paves the way for WA to be able to position both our premium, sustainable range of products that are becoming increasingly popular in these discerning markets that are looking for that quality and sustainable food origin,” he said.
The report was prepared as part of an agreement with the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) to facilitate greater awareness and utilisation of the FTAs with China, Korea and Japan. The insights and market perspectives were gathered from food and agribusiness stakeholders in those markets and WA.
It included discussions with reference groups within the industry clusters, overseas meetings with key importers, distributers and decision makers.
“That enabled us to garner the insights that were necessary to feed back to WA industry and similarly understand their insights and perspectives in the context of the FTAs that are now in place for most of the agribusiness products and food categories that are exporting to Japan, South Korea and China,” Carter said.
Grants for agribusiness and food ventures
Meanwhile, the State Government launched a new $1.5 million grants scheme to incentivise value-adding agribusiness in regional WA last week.
For more information about the grants click here. Applications close on October 19, 2018.
► Navigate FTAs with ease, contact ITIC’s expert advisers. Read the FTA market reports for China, Korea and Japan at the end of this page.
