The department enables international market access for agricultural, fisheries and forestry products. International trade supports food security and provides growth opportunities for Australian producers.
Australia exports approximately 70 per cent of its agricultural, fisheries, and forestry production.
Market access achievements are actions by the department to:
- open new markets
- improve access to existing markets
- maintain access to existing markets in the face of potential issues to trade, or
- restore access where it has been lost.
These achievements include a range of activities, such as:
- negotiating technical (non-tariff) market access conditions with trading partners. Agreement on these conditions is usually required before trade can occur. This includes requirements for:
- biosecurity, including sanitary or phytosanitary treatment
- food safety, including testing, labelling, and certification.
- working with exporters and trading partners to prevent and resolve potential issues to trade.
Achievements in 2024-25
In 2024-25, the department recorded 79 market access achievements. This included:
- Opening 10 new markets and 44 improvements to existing market access.
- 17 actions to maintain and 8 actions to restore existing markets. These actions supported trade worth an estimated $4 billion.
New
The department opened 10 new markets, including:
- New access for plums to Vietnam, opening a new market for Australian plum exports. Australia exported a total $29 million of plums to the world in 2024-25.
- New access for apples grown on the Australian mainland to China. This opens one of the world’s most lucrative fresh produce markets to mainland Australian apple growers.
Improved
There were 44 outcomes that improved access to overseas markets, including:
- improving access for macadamias to India through a revised heat-treatment protocol. This is a market that industry estimates could be worth $50 million
- improving and modernising export certification for a range of non-prescribed goods to Singapore. These goods were transferred to the New Export Documentation System (or NEXDOC) platform. This includes products such as processed food and beverages, edible fats, and supplements. Affected exports to Singapore were worth $388 million in 2024-25.
Maintained
There were 17 achievements to maintain market access, including:
- maintaining access to the European Union (EU) for products impacted by the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). The department ensured Australia was categorised as a “low-risk” country by the European Commission. Australian exports in scope for the EUDR were worth approximately $287 million in 2024-25.
- maintained access for dairy to India. This access would otherwise have ceased from October 2024. Australia’s dairy exports to India were worth $22 million in 2024-25, almost doubled compared to the previous year.
Restored
The department restored access to 8 markets where it was previously lost, including:
- Restored access for live rock lobsters to China, announced on 20 December 2024. This restores trade that was worth over $700 million prior to the disruption.
- Restoring trade in poultry and poultry products to several priority markets. This followed outbreaks of High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (HPAI) in Australia in May 2024. As a result of the department’s efforts following the 2024 outbreaks, the initial trade impacts of the 2025 outbreaks were also minimised.
Further information
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