Australia’s dairy industry has backed Federal Trade Minister Don Farrell in walking away from a trade deal with the European Union that would have hurt the industry.
Both the Australian Dairy Industry Council and Australian Dairy Farmers say a free trade agreement with the EU was never going to deliver a positive outcome for dairy.
Australian Dairy Farmers was part of an Australian delegation to Europe which in October lobbied the EU for a wider share of the European dairy market.
Undera dairy farmer Sarah Parker accompanied the delegation and told Country News the failure to reach a deal with Europe reflected the paucity of the EU’s offer.
“No deal is better than a dud deal,” Mrs Parker said.
“It would not have been fair because they would have had greater access to our dairy industry, but we would have had no gains and some burdens instead.”
ADF president and ADIC chair Rick Gladigau has urged the Federal Government to not make a deal which at present would cost the Australian dairy industry $75 million a year.
Mr Gladigau is currently in Japan negotiating a trade deal there.
Mrs Parker said what the EU was offering was not a “level playing field”.
“Something like this normally involves a like-for-like deal,” she said.
“Theirs is a highly subsidised dairy industry which sells 70,000 tonnes per year to Australia.
“In contrast, Australia exports only 500 tonnes back; that’s a mere fraction.
“Fair and equitable trade is needed here, considering that we have some unique dairy products.”
The EU is demanding that Australia concedes any geographical indicator (GI) naming of products, a requirement that industry experts say will put smaller cheesemakers out of business.
Honouring GI constraints would result in the banning of well-known cheese names such as feta, parmesan and haloumi.
Changing packaging would incur an initial cost for the industry but indefinite losses would result from consumers targeting European products still lawfully carrying the more familiar name.
Mrs Parker said the GI needed to consider the international heritage of Australian cheesemakers and other producers.
“Also we need to consider that some local families have secret recipes that go back generations.
“We want our products to be appreciated. We have a right to be proud of what we do.”