2024-25 Agricultural Exports Cost Recovery Implementation Statements

The Australian Government recovers the cost of delivering agricultural export regulatory services. Under the Australian Government Charging Framework, the department must regularly document changes to regulatory charging activities through a Cost Recovery Implementation Statement (CRIS).

Charging framework

The Australian Government Charging Framework (Charging Framework) allows government agencies to plan, implement and review their charging activities.

The charging framework is a cornerstone to government charging. We apply this policy to all activities that deliver goods, services or regulation, or a combination of them, to the non-government sector, unless otherwise decided by Government.

Under the Charging Framework, the key criteria for regulatory charging is the link between the activity and the individuals or groups that creates the demand:

A regulatory fee is used when the activity is regulatory and its costs can be attributed to a specific individual or organisation (for example, application for a license).
A regulatory levy is used when the activity is a regulatory and its costs can be attributed to a group of individuals or organisations being regulated by a proxy that reasonable aligns to the effort each party in the group causes (for example, compliance audits across an industry).

Fees and levies

Fees and levies (charges) are set out in the following legislative instruments:

Export Charges (Imposition-General) Regulations 2021
Export Charges (Imposition – Customs) Regulations 2021
Export Control (Fees and Payments) Rules 2021

Government policy approval to cost recover

Policy authority for cost recovery of export regulatory activities was reaffirmed in the 2023-24 Mid-year Economic Fiscal Outlook through the Government’s Securing the future of agricultural trade measure. This measure announced funding of $91.8 million over two years to sustain delivery of key department export trade and regulatory functions to enable departmental services continue to meet the growing demands of Australia’s agriculture and food export industries.

A further $3.7 million under the measure has been provided to enable development of an ongoing sustainable funding model over three years. Development of this model will allow the department to be appropriately resourced through both cost recovery and appropriation funding to undertake it’s export regulatory activities, trade, national coordination and leadership activities.

Our fees and charges for 2024-25

On 1 July 2021 new regulatory fees and charges for agricultural export arrangements took effect with prices set in legislation from 2021–22 to 2024-25.