WildFlowers Australia

If you are an Australian Exporter this issue will in all likelyhood affect you financially.

The 40% Government assistance will be allowed to lapse on the 30 June 2009.

AQIS is reveiwing their fee structure.

The attached letter below provides an idea of the scale of the fee restructure.

Quote:

"The new Cost recovery model will be required to recover expenses (approx $7.4 Million per year in 2009/2010), repay the deficit of $800,000 from 2007/2008, and provide for a 10% buffer fund in an Income Equalisation Reserve over 3 years."

Read the attached document.

Consider your position on this issue and how you will respond.

Discuss this with fellow growers and with your export agent.

Write to the Minister The Hon Tony Burke and or your local member.

WFA have sent a letter already.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LUCY KNIGHT 10/06/2009 2:52:00 THE Federal Government is expected to announce details of a special $40 million package for rural exporters to compensate for the scrapping of AQIS inspection fee subsidies. The decision to scrap the AQIS subsidy was in line with recommendations from last year's Beale review into Australia's quarantine arrangements. Following much lobbying and representations from some of Australia's major agricultural exporters, it's understood Minister for Agriculture, Tony Burke, will unveil a package to help minimise costs to the export industry when the current export subsidy arrangements expire on June 30. The Government previously subsidised 40 per cent of the cost of AQIS' inspection fees paid by exporters, but as recommended by Beale, there was no provision for the subsidy to continue in this year's Federal Budget. The Beale report recommended the Government move towards a system of full cost recovery for the AQIS fees. It also recommended a major increase in funding for AQIS and biosecurity, but this year's Budget papers reveal not only was that recommendation ignored but funding for quarantine was actually cut. The budget papers acknowledge an increase in revenue from the scrapping of the inspection subsidy, but a reduction of a similar amount in overall quarantine spending. The new package, due to be announced in days, could help overcome resistance in the Senate with some concerns expressed last month about the imposition of 100 per cent of the inspection fee costs during the current global downturn. It's understood the new package, as a result of discussions with agricultural exporters, will look at ways to specifically reduce the paperwork costs associated with exporting with measures such as electronic lodging of forms instead of a manual paperchain. It's believed a taskforce of industry leaders told the Government they would not accept the scrapping of the subsidies "for nothing", calling for improvements in AQIS that would cut red tape and make the agency more efficient. Sources say the measures will not be offset by cuts to other programs, and will be established as new funds. They say the package, once finalised, will be made available immediately. Major sheepmeat exporter, Roger Fletcher, met with Mr Burke in Canberra a fortnight ago and said "it's been a hard slog" but finally exporters have made headway on the issue. FarmOnline National News Bureau, Parliament House, Canberra Source: http://www.farmonline.com.au