Australia’s agricultural success depends on strong, secure and sustainable trade.
Our work enables trade and innovation through modern digital systems, supports exporters to meet global requirements, and ensures our climate-smart, sustainable food and fibre reach international markets.
Australia’s agriculture industry exports around 80% of what it produces, with agricultural, fisheries and forestry exports forecast at $83 billion for 2025-26. We export these products to over 160 overseas markets.
The department has a key role in supporting industry to realise the economic potential of trade by delivering export regulatory services, negotiating technical rules and standards, and engaging internationally to advance the interests of Australian agriculture.
Australian agricultural exports have enjoyed increasingly strong export results in recent years, benefiting from the work on new and improved market access secured by the Australian Government. In 2024-25, the department recorded a total of 79 technical market access achievements. These included 17 actions to maintain and 8 actions to restore existing markets, supporting trade worth an estimated $4 billion. They also included opening 10 new markets and 44 improvements to existing market access.
We administer the Export Control Act (2020) to ensure goods exported from Australia meet relevant importing country requirements. Our staff complete audits, inspections, document issuance, system assurance and incident management to ensure our products can be exported.
As the regulator, we have an obligation under the Australian Government Charging Framework to recover the minimum necessary cost for providing effective regulatory services.
The gap between what it costs to deliver these services and the revenue raised from export cost recovery has existed for 16 of the last 20 years - and has been exacerbated by trading partners’ increasing complexity and requirements for goods entering those markets, inflationary pressures, amongst other things.
New Cost Recovery Implementation Statement (CRIS) will be introduced for export regulatory functions from 1 July 2026 to ensure vital export regulatory services are sustainably funded and continue to meet industry needs.
For more information on how the department applies fees and charges, please read the Fees and charges page.
Arrangements from 1 July 2026
The Australian Government is providing $49 million in supplementation to support a phased return to full cost recovery over the next three years (2026-27 to 2028-29) for most commodity export cost recovery arrangements, with the live export arrangement seeing a return to full cost recovery over two years but with continued Government funding of activities required by the Australian Government.
This funding is in addition to the $138 million that the government has provided since 2023-24 to sustain the delivery of key export trade and regulatory functions.
The Government is also committing $21 million to implement reforms to establish appropriate export regulatory and cost recovery arrangements for non-prescribed goods (such as honey, wool, skins and hides) that are worth an estimated $11 billion in exports. This reform will secure future export markets for these Australian products.
The Government is also committing $7.5 million over 3 years to implement regulatory improvements for live animal exports, which will align with a new regulatory framework to support ongoing sustainability of the industry after the phase out of live sheep exports by sea.
The package also proposes certain regulatory activities currently undertaken to be moved to Cost Recovery, including some activities allowing DAFF to regulate agricultural exports to China (China’s CIFER listing process).
Industry briefing: Sustainable export trade funding
DAFF hosted an industry information session on 12 December 2025.
Cost Recovery Implementation Statements consultation
In late January 2026, draft Cost Recovery Implementation Statements (CRIS) for the 2026-27 financial year are due to be released for 5 weeks of industry and public consultation. This process is critical to shaping how fees and charges are set and to ensure transparency and sustainability.
The CRIS and explanatory materials will outline cost recovery activities, how fees and charges would be calculated, and how industry can provide their feedback.
Stakeholders will have opportunities to share feedback on the proposed approach to charging and the practical impacts, and influence implementation timing.
Consultation will include virtual and in-person sessions in key areas. Feedback will also be able to be provided via our Have Your Say platform.
To subscribe for consultation updates, please go to the Have Your Say page and click the Subscribe button.
Sustainable Trade Funding Taskforce
We established a Sustainable Trade Funding Taskforce to develop a new sustainable funding model for export regulatory services.
The taskforce continues to actively engage with the export industry to inform options to close the revenue gap, discuss the rationale for charging, and propose ideas about how the department can improve the performance of trade and export functions.
Between February 2024 and November 2025, we held 92 engagement sessions with 12 different industry consultation groups on various policy position papers, and held a public consultation via Have Your Say.
If you have any questions, you can contact the Taskforce at Exportsfunding@aff.gov.au