Australian Grape & Wine has welcomed the Australian Government’s launch of “Free Trade Advantage”, an online tool which will help exporters – particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to maximise their opportunities under Australia’s network of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).

“The launch of this tool couldn’t come at a better time for Australia’s wine sector,” said Tony Battaglene, chief executive of AGW (Australian Grape & Wine).

“As we come to the end of a torrid year of fires, smoke and COVID-19, business owners are looking at every opportunity they can find to get back on their feet.

“While our sector is clearly export focused, we know many smaller businesses can find navigating FTAs daunting. We hope this tool will enable more SMEs to capture the benefits of Australia’s FTAs in order to grow their businesses.”

According to Wine Australia, Australian winemakers exported 62 percent of production in the year to 30 September 2020, valued at $2.998 billion AUD. In this year, China was clearly Australia’s highest value export market at $1.26 billion of sales.

“This tool is critical for those businesses which may be looking to diversify their export focus,” said Battaglene.

“We commend the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Senator the Hon. Simon Birmingham, for understanding the needs of SMEs wishing to export and finding practical ways to help them pursue new and exciting opportunities in overseas markets”.

Are you a Daily Wine News subscriber? If not, click here to join our mailing list. It’s free!