The Federal Government is hoping to expand the scope of its agreements with the European Union (EU) and Japan to include organic wine at upcoming trade negotiations.
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Food and Organics Access Team Director, Amber Wood, told the 2024 Australian Organics Conference the role of DAFF’s Export Standards Branch is to gain, improve and maintain market access for all foods, including organic food and beverages.
“We negotiate the agreed conditions of market access, and we develop the Australian positions on the international standards of food products,” Wood told the Conference.
The EU is renewing its equivalency arrangements with all trading partners and Wood said a priortiy for Australia will be the inclusion of organic wine.
“We’re hoping to expand the scope of the agreement,” she said.
“First and foremost, we’d like to include organic wine into the scope of the agreement and aquaculture as well.
“The next cab off the rank after this work with the EU will be Japan, including wine or alcoholic beverages.”
Australian Organic Limited Chief Executive Officer, Niki Ford, welcomed the news, saying it will help to better measure the contribution of the Australian certified organic industry.
“This is exciting because Australian Organic’s Market Report is the only publication to collect and report data on behalf of the industry,” Ford said.
“This will now give us a greater visibility of the industry, its trends and growth, and will drive further insights for industry, which has been a significant gap for the organic sector.”