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On 28 March 2021 Australia’s new legal framework for agricultural exports commenced. The Australian Government introduced the new export legislation as part of a wider initiative to strengthen Australia’s agricultural exports and market access. This initiative will make the laws more relevant, responsive and efficient, provide the same level of regulatory oversight, remove duplication, and ensure consistency across the commodities where possible.
On 24 March 2026, the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, and President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the conclusion of negotiations on the Australia-European Union Free Trade Agreement (A-EU FTA). Australia and the EU will now commence domestic parliamentary processes required for signature, which may take up to two years.
Australia has concluded FTAs with 19 countries, or groups of countries. These FTAs and the entry-into-force date are:
The A-UAE CEPA was signed on 6 November 2024 and entered into force on 1 October 2025. The agreement is Australia’s first FTA in the Middle East region.
High-quality, comprehensive free trade agreements (FTAs) play an important role in:
Free trade agreements can cover entire regions with many participants or link just two economies. Under these agreements, parties enter legally binding commitments to open access to each other’s markets for goods, services and investment.
Australia has 19 free trade agreements currently in force.
Under the transparency provisions of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS agreement), Australia is required to have a National Enquiry Point (NEP), and a National Notification Authority (NNA) (Annex B, paragraph 3 and 10) with the responsibilities of
The Agricultural Trade Quarterly Briefing is a quarterly news update from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. We provide key insights into how we’re supporting agricultural trade, highlight new overseas markets and provide insights for exporters.
In this edition we:
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda) was agreed by 193 Member States at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in New York in September 2015. Australia was represented at the Summit by the Hon Julie Bishop MP, former Minister for Foreign Affairs.
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You can submit some items to the import assessment team with the item’s description in the subject line. The items are:
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