Emergency safeguard actions, permitted under the World Trade Organisation rules, would impose an emergency tax on cheap imported foods where domestic industries are suffering injury.
Ausveg is the National Peak Industry Body representing Australia’s 9,000 vegetable and potato growers.
“The Australian horticulture industry is suffering from massive injury to its industries with the flood of imported produce that’s wrecking regional businesses, employers and families,” said Ausveg public affairs manager William Churchill, “and we support the calls for emergency taxes on cheap imported food.”
Fruit growers in the Goulburn Valley are calling new cuts to their contracts a ‘decapitation’.
“Decapitation couldn’t be a more accurate description of the situation we are facing here in Australia,” said Churchill. “We are seeing a consistent message of despair around the country as more and more farmers are being paid less and less for their produce, as processors here in Australia try to compete on cost.”
For farmers and processors, Australia is becoming an extremely difficult environment to grow and process food in. In a Federal Department of Agriculture report released this year, data shows that imported fruit and vegetables has increased by $264m over the past five years.
“In this current economic climate, other countries are able to use Australia as a dumping ground for product and wipe out local competition, allowing them to monopolise supply,” said Churchill. “If the local competition is exterminated, we’ll have no other choice but to import all of our food.
“This not only raises uncertainties around the future of many regional economies who survive on agriculture, but also raises questions about Australia’s food security.”
Ausveg is calling on the federal agriculture minister Joe Ludwig and trade minister Dr Craig Emerson to implement the safeguard actions while the government is setting up the Anti-Dumping Commission that Prime Minister Gillard announced last December.
“The injury being caused to industry by dumped produce is so significant that many processors are questioning their future here in Australia,” said Churchill.
Vegetable processor Windsor Farm, located in Cowra NSW, went into voluntary administration in March this year, months after sauce company Rosella also shut its doors. Windsor Farm made canned tomato soup from local tomato growers for Rosella.
“If the government was to do one thing to truly benefit agriculture, it would be implementing these safeguards,” said Churchill.
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