The Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Steven Ciobo, has highlighted Australia’s wine and liquor exporters as big winners under the recently-signed Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP-11) was signed earlier this month and will see the 11 signatory countries eliminate more than 98 per cent of tariffs in a trade zone with a combined GDP worth $13.7 trillion.
TPP-11 was signed by Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam and Minister Ciobo told TheShout that it represents great news for this countries drinks exporters.
“Australian wine and liquor exporters are among the big winners under the TPP-11 as they will be able to sell more of their goods in a free trade area that spans the Americas and Asia,” the Minister told TheShout.
“Total Australian wine exports were valued at more than $2.3 billion in 2016-17, and around 19 per cent of these exports, valued at $442 million, went to TPP-11 countries.”
With Canada and Mexico being part of the deal, Australian exporters now have preferential access to two of the world’s top 20 economies for the first time.
In 2016-17 Australian wine exports to Canada were valued at $184m and were previously subjected to tariffs of 1.87c per litre and 4.68c per litre. These tariffs will now be eliminated as part of the TPP-11 agreement. The Mexican tariffs of 20 per cent will be removed within three years for higher quality wine and within 10 years for all other wine.
The TPP-11 also has other cost-saving benefits for Australian exporters with simplified rules and technical requirements for wine and spirits. This includes being able to use the same label on bottles for exports to all TPP countries, helping to save money on marketing and distribution costs.
Last week Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visited the Wirra Wirra winery in the McLaren Vale and highlighted the benefits of the agreement for this country’s wine industry.