It was a case of ‘swings and roundabouts’ for Australian exporters today, as the Department of Agriculture confirmed the reduction of quotas to the Indonesian market for all citrus, except lemons, at the same time as the $40m Vietnam market was reopened to citrus and table grapes, as announced by Federal Minister for Agriculture Barnaby Joyce. “I’ll have to sell approximately 10-20 containers of citrus that would be for Indonesia to other markets now, but I was extremely happy when I saw the e-mail from Citrus Australia saying the Vietnam market has been reopened. Vietnam was and will hopefully still be a very good market for us. We’re looking forward to starting trade with them again soon ” says Vince Brullo, of Australia Fruits.
The news also needs to be kept in perspective, according to Tania Champan, Chair of Citrus Australia. “It is fantastic that Vietnam has opened up, and it’s disappointing that there are consumers in Indonesia who have indicated a preference for our Australian citrus missing out, but at the same time 42 countries imported citrus from Australia in the last year,” she told Fresh Plaza. “This year before the quotas were removed we’d managed to send 350,000 tonnes out of 550,000 tonnes before that happened. That’s 350,000 out of a 600,000 tonne crop that already went. It’s not the be all and end all.”
The Indonesian ban on citrus exports, except lemons, is expected to impact other commodities including potatoes, carrots and onions. The ban does not directly affect one large Australian exporter, however, Simfresh, which had stopped sending fruit to Indonesia previously. “We don’t do anything there, we just really haven’t had to. We’re happy to see that the Vietnam market has been reopened though,” says Simfresh Exports Manager Amanda Cini.
The situation with Indonesia is only for one semester, lasting from July until September, according to Michelle Christoe, of the Australian Horticultural Exporters Association. “Unofficially the Indonesian government has reduced import quotas. It affects Australia’s competitors as well, and the Indonesian Government has not indicated it will extend the situation, she told Fresh Plaza.
Both Indonesia and Vietnam are considered premium markets for Australian exporters, and improving market access with premium markets is one of the stated aims of the Agricultural Competitiveness Whitepaper, released July 4.