Australia’s peak exporter body has said a rise in inspection costs will severely hurt the country’s export volumes, and has condemned government plans to remove a 40 per cent subsidy on quarantine inspection costs.
The subsidy on Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) costs will lapse on 1 July this year.
The Australian Horticultural Exporters’ Association (AHEA) said the change could increase the industry’s total inspection fees by as much as A$2m over the 2009/10 financial year.
“The AHEA opposes the removal of the 40 per cent government contribution at a time when fresh fruit and vegetable exports from Australia have declined A$250m since 2002/03,” said the group’s deputy chairman David Minnis.
Mr Minnis said the rate rise was unreasonable for a service for which there were no alternative.
“`It is` a service that exporters have to use by law, which is expensive – it will be A$300 per hour for inspections – inefficient and unable to service the industry during peak periods of exporter demand,” he said.
The group has been in discussion with the Australian government about delaying the fee increases for the horticulture sector or removing them altogether, but AHEA CEO Maxwell Summers told Fruitnet no progress has been made on that front.
“We were invited to put in a counter offer, but we’ve refused that. We’re waiting for further details at this stage,” he said.
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