Statement attributable to NFF President Hamish McIntyre
Australian farmers are extremely disappointed that negotiations for a free trade deal with the European Union (EU) have concluded without commercially meaningful agricultural market access gains since Australia last walked away from negotiations.
What the Australian Government has accepted today appears to offer no material change for key agricultural commodities as what the Government rightly rejected in October 2023.
For decades, our sector has been guided by a clear principle of wanting more two-way trade with the EU, not less.
The NFF has long championed free and fair trade, recognising its role in global economic growth and stability. Australian agriculture is unwavering in its commitment to this.
A deal with a market of this size offered an opportunity to help ease the pressure on farmers who are grappling with the impacts from the conflict in the Middle East, China's beef tariffs, and United States trade volatility, which are creating global trade headwinds.
The NFF acknowledges the efforts made by Australian negotiating officials against a tough counterparty. While we acknowledge some progress on issues such as geographical indicators, preserving the use of names like prosecco and parmesan, and access conditionality, farmers will rightly be concerned that after years of negotiations this deal hasn't delivered commercially meaningful access for Australian agricultural exports.
They will now pay the price for this subpar EU deal for decades to come.
Questions will be asked as to how we can now advocate for others to liberalise trade, having accepted a deal ourselves that does not reflect the core tenet that free-flowing agricultural trade drives positive economic and sustainability outcomes.
Market access is the lifeblood of Australian farmers who do not rely on Government subsidies. We are concerned the EU has offered subpar access for Australian producers while potentially needing to deploy billion-dollar subsidies to get their producers to accept the deal. This is exactly what happened when the EU signed a deal with the Mercosur nations, fast-tracking nearly $80 billion in farm subsidies, sending a clear signal protectionism is alive and well.
A strong industry and Government partnership has been a tenet of Australian trade policy for many decades. The Government must now demonstrate how it will rebuild this trust. While the Government cannot control other nations' trade policies, it can control its own, so a good first step would be to pause its plan to increase export costs on industry through full cost recovery until global conditions stabilise.
