Citrus market development, market access and quality (CT18002)

What was it all about?

This investment helped the Australian citrus industry continue its strong presence in the global market, remain competitive and able to reliably supply product that satisfies international requirements. 

Challenge

The Australian citrus industry is well-positioned to reliably supply the Australian domestic market and northern hemisphere markets with counter-seasonal fruit with the best colour, flavour and sweetness found anywhere in the world. Australia’s proximity to Asia and reliable shipping routes provide the citrus industry with a competitive advantage over other southern hemisphere citrus producers.

However, the global landscape continues to change, and the industry is presented with new threats and challenges that need to be continually addressed. During the timeframe of this project, significant challenges were faced due to changes in trading relationships and the global pandemic, as well as conflicts that impacted trade across the world. Strong leadership at the national level was required to respond to the regulatory and commercial challenges in the trading environment.

Response

The project had three focus areas: maintaining and improving market access, delivering market information, and quality improvement. Specific project activities were many and varied, and just some of them included…

• Maintaining the Australian Citrus Quality Standards.
• Capturing and disseminating information of the maturity levels and quality of fruit for sale in the wholesales market during the season, as well as pre-season on-farm quality testing.
• Continued delivery of Season Updates for growers in the Citrus eNews newsletter, which provide a summary for the major citrus growing regions including seasonal outlooks and advice of nutrition, irrigation, pest and diseases and more.
• Provision of weekly in-season reports on shipping volumes and conditions in export markets.
• Provision of production data via InfoCitrus during the season – see more and log in to the InfoCitrus database here.
• Delivery of the annual Citrus Tree Census, available from Citrus Australia.
• Delivery of market-related regional workshops and forums, and participation in the industry’s biennial Market Outlook Forum and Citrus Technical Forum.
• Work towards annual crop forecasts, plus fruit density and sizing surveys to help inform the industry of the quantity and quality of fruit.
• Delivery of training for registered crop monitors, who are responsible for surveying orchards for pests and diseases as part of the process of exporting to Korea, China and Thailand.
• Facilitation of the industry’s online export registration system.
• Participation in and facilitation of export, variety, agrichemical and domestic/quality leadership groups, as well as Japan, China and US exporter groups.
• Provision of technical assistance to the Australian Government regarding market access and Free Trae Agreement negotiations.
• Participation in relevant trade events and missions.

Benefit

This program has assisted the citrus industry to navigate a range of challenges and opportunities over its duration. Some of the benefits included:

• Increased domestic and export trade volume and value in existing markets
• Identification and development of domestic and export market access priorities
• Improved efficiencies in export auditing, inspection and certification
• Reduced tariffs and removal of non-tariff measures
• Minimised risk of trade disruption, suspension and reputational damage
• Minimised agrichemical compliance breaches
• Increased industry understanding and ability to fulfil phytosanitary, food safety, chemical residue and other technical requirements of market access
• Improved phytosanitary access conditions through progressing technical cases with government
• Contribution to eradication of citrus canker and protection of the production base from exotic threats
• Increased consumer confidence and repeat purchasing behaviour
• Increased industry ability to make informed decisions on trade and investment
• Increased industry awareness and knowledge through online systems (e.g. tree census), trade databases, international notifications and MRL sources.