Tariff deal shows poor knowledge

Horticulture was dudded on tariffs in a South-East Asian trade agreement, but should get a better deal in future.

That's a key finding of a Federal parliamentary inquiry into the recent trade deal between Australia and the 10-country Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

A report tabled last week by the House of Representatives' treaties committee said the ASEAN deal left Australian horticultural exporters with higher tariffs on products than those negotiated in a separate deal with ASEAN member, Thailand.

The report also noted that tariffs on mandarins, carrots, seed potatoes and several other horticultural exports to Indonesia and negotiated under the deal were higher than tariffs already faced by Australian exporters.

While the lower tariffs would apply in practice, "the committee is at a loss to understand why a worse tariff ... would be included in the (ASEAN trade deal)", the report said.

The committee said the Federal Government should now pursue bilateral and multilateral avenues to improve tariff outcomes for the horticultural industry.

It said future trade deals should not include tariff outcomes worse than those now in place.

The report said while horticulture was "generally happy" with the quality of Australian trade negotiators, vegetable growers in particular believed there was a lack of knowledge of their industry.

The industry was also concerned about the precedent set by "easier" negotiations with Thailand and ASEAN than for the much harder deals being negotiated with China and Korea.

The report recommended that the trade department explored ways of allowing negotiators to consult directly with industry people during negotiations.

"For example, the industry representatives could be based in Australia and be available to be contacted by phone or email," it said.

Horticulture Australia Council chief executive Kris Newton said the industry welcomed the inquiry's findings as "realistic and sensible".

"We've been telling Government for a long time that our bottom line in trade negotiations is to at least improve on what we've already got," she said. "But horticulture seems to be at the bottom of the list in negotiations. Some even say we're used as the trade-off."

   Printable Version