Labor’s plan to help Australian businesses tackle non-tariff barriers has received another endorsement – this time from the Trade Minister himself.
Non-tariff barriers are anything from product standards to labelling and certification requirements.
In October last year, Labor announced it would establish a cross-agency team with officers from the DFAT, Austrade and the Departments of Industry and Agriculture to help Australian exporters tackle non-tariff barriers to trade.
It has been backed by:
- The National Farmers Federation
- The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
- The Export Council of Australia
- The Business Council of Australia
- Red Meat Advisory Council.
The policy is based on a model adopted by the New Zealand Government to tackle non-tariff barriers to trade.
Under Parliamentary questioning yesterday, Trade Minister Steve Ciobo indicated he was considering doing the same thing:
I’m looking very closely at what New Zealand has done in relation to opportunities for an Interdepartmental Committee and I don’t want to use IDC loosely but I’m looking at opportunities for coordination between of course both the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Trade and Investment.
– Steve Ciobo, Consideration in Detail, Australian Parliament 18 June 2018
We welcome the Trade Minister’s support for Labor’s plan and we are happy to work with him to implement them.
TUESDAY, 19 JUNE 2018
MEDIA CONTACT: 02 9790 2466
