AUSTRALIAN sugarcane growers welcomed the news of the official signing of the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) saying it creates certainty for growers and could lead to industry growth in terms of a diversification of potential buyers of Aussie product. Once the FTA comes into effect it will give up-front tariff-free access for 80,000 tonnes of Australian sugar to be sold to the UK in the first year increasing by 20,000 tonnes each year for the next eight years.
Original content
Canegrowers chairman and Farleigh, near Mackay, sugarcane producer Paul Schembri said having multiple export opportunities was a boost for the industry. "We've got strong ties with Asia and now we can work towards rebuilding what was once a really strong relationship with the UK," Mr Schembri said. RELATED: Australia's big win in sugar WTO case RELATED: Cane operation makes $4 million He said while there were significant freight costs in moving a bulk commodity from one side of the globe to the other British refiners had expressed satisfaction with the Australian product. "They really like our high quality sugar so we think we will see sales heading that way in spite of the higher freight costs," he said. Canegrowers chief executive Dan Galligan said even the first year quota dwarfed what had previously been possible to trade with the European Union, which has a large sugar beet industry. "We thank the Australian government for achieving this result which is a huge boost on the ...
By clicking “Accept Cookies,” I agree to provide cookies for statistical and personalized preference purposes.
To learn more about our cookies, please read our Privacy Policy.