Industry body adds new board members as key government partners provide updates at forum
Australian Horticulture Trade (AHT), the peak industry body for Australian horticultural exporters and importers of fresh produce has announced the appointment of Seeka Australia’s Cameron Carter as the organisation’s new chair.
Carter takes on the role from Joe Saina, who is stepping down after more than 20 years on the board including five years as vice chair and six years as chair.
AHT chief executive Lesley Shield said Carter had been involved with the organisation for a number of years.
“Cameron has been vice chair of our association for four years and it is great to see him now take the role of chair,” said Shield.
“Cameron has many years of experience across domestic and international sectors of our industry, and AHT looks forward to continuing our growth under his leadership.”
Carter thanked Saina for his contribution and AHT would continue its advocacy for industry under his leadership.
“For the past four years I have had the privilege of being the vice chair for AHT, working closely with Joe Saina, Lesley Shield and the whole board of directors. I am honoured to now be appointed to the role of chair and look forward to continuing the advocacy of exporters and importers involved in the fresh produce sector,” said Carter.
“AHT has a close, long-standing relationship with many representatives across the industry, including peak industry bodies and government agencies.
“I would like to express our gratitude and sincere thanks to Joe Saina, having been a leading figure within AHT for over 20 years, and six years as the chair.”
Carter was appointed at the AHT AGM on 10 October which also saw Christian Jones, commercial manager at Bungle Fresh elected as vice-chair and Simon Caldow, chief operating officer at Etherington, a new director elected to the board.
Following the AGM, AHT held its annual industry forum featuring presentations from key stakeholders in the import and export supply chain.
Representatives from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) – including Douglas Kerruish from DAFF Import Operations; Gaylene Podhajski from DAFF Export Operations and Holly Buckle from DAFF Biosecurity – provided updates from their divisions, detailing efforts being made to improve processes for Australian horticultural import and exports.
Sal Milici from the Freight Trade Alliance gave an update on the status of the logistics sector and Fresh Intelligence Consulting’s Wayne Prowse delivered a statistical analysis of Australia’s fruit and vegetable trade.
Prowse noted the combined fresh fruit and vegetable exports increased 8.5 per cent to 697,617 tonnes worth A$1.82bn for the year ending June 2024. Australia imported 88,557 tonnes of produce worth A$386m over the same period.
