Australian Grape & Wine (AGW) has welcomed the additional Government funding support announced by Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Simon Birmingham, through the expansion of the Export Market Development Grants (EMDG) program.

The Government announced it had injected an extra $49.8 million into the EMDG program in the 2019-20 financial year, allowing exporters and tourism businesses to get additional reimbursements for costs incurred in marketing their products and services around the world.

From 1 July 2020, Wine producers applying for EMDG funding will be able to:

• Claim for expenses incurred for events in 2019-2020, even if they were cancelled.
• Claim reimbursement for 50% of eligible EMDG expenses for promotional activities in 2019-2020 without the Export Performance Test applying.

“For a long time the EMDG Program has been one of the wine sector’s most well utilised and most beneficial programs for our sector’s capacity to build and develop export markets,” said Tony Battaglene, AGW chief executive.

“Minister Birmingham’s efforts to expand the funding allocation and allow greater flexibility for producers to access the funds, during these difficult times, will help address the needs of small and medium companies.

“Exports will drive Australia’s recovery and all initiatives that aim to promote our export capability will be key to driving the country’s economic recovery once the COVID-19 health crisis starts to ease.

“The grape and wine sector is well placed to drive this recovery, and this initiative will provide hope for rural and regional Australia where so many people rely on grape and wine production for their livelihoods.”

For more information about the Export Market Development Grant program visit the program website here: www.austrade.gov.au/Australian/Export/Export-Grants.

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