Australia’s largest fruit grower representative body Voice of Horticulture (VOH) has called for the China-Australia free trade agreement (ChAFTA) to be finalised as soon as possible.
VOH chairman Tania Chapman has said that delaying ChAFTA would limit not only employment growth, but also export potential for Australia’s horticulture industry, which employs more than 60,000 workers across the country.
“An important strategy to grow this employment is to export our produce overseas, because there is a huge opportunity there that extends us beyond our relatively small domestic market,” said Chapman in a company statement. “We have made some progress in recent years with citrus, almonds, and table grapes, but trade barriers and protocols limit our growth.
The FTA between Australia and China was signed earlier this year after a decade of negotiation, though still has to be ratified in both countries.
Chapman said ChAFTA, along with recently signed FTAs with Japan and South Korea could drive horticultural growth.
“Not only will the FTAs encourage exports and enable substantial growth in the sector, but also remove excess production from the domestic market, helping growers get a fair price for their produce by making the sector more competitive,” Chapman added.
