FARMERS and grower groups are being forced to fund their own market access development despite already paying government levies to help boost exports.

One private company has had to tip in $150,000 to the recent successful bid to allow meaningful trade access for Tasmanian cherries to Japan.

Reid Fruits has invested about $600,000 since 1999 into trying to win market access for cherries to Japan and to have it agree the fruit did not need to be fumigated.

Fruit Growers Tasmania also put $100,000 towards the effort, with the Tasmanian Government also contributing.

Australian Horticultural Exporters Association deputy chairman David Minnis said the industry had to drive efforts to crack new markets, despite the fact Horticulture Australia had a market access committee.

"At the end of the day, the bureaucrats are still being paid and we're twiddling our thumbs waiting to get into a market," Mr Minnis said.

Reid Fruits owner Tim Reid said issues could no longer be left solely to the Federal Government.

"It's a bit naive to expect that your import application will be dealt with in a commercially acceptable timeframe if other issues are not dealt with as well," Mr Reid said.

Summerfruit Australia founder and Stone Fruit Export Committee member Dom Cutri said growers should not have to pay to obtain market access.

"Government should be doing that . . . it annoys the hell out of all of us," Mr Cutri said.

"If I'd known it would end up this way I wouldn't have spent three years getting Summerfruit Australia (operational) - the idea was to lobby government to help us, but it seems government is lobbying us to pay for everything instead."

Merrigum fruit grower John Corboy said every successful market access application cost growers money.

"It's not the way it should be - people who put the time in become so committed that they pay the bills to ensure the job is done," Mr Corboy said.

Although market access is less of an issue in livestock, Cattle Council policy director Jed Matz said the beef industry used growers' levies and Cattle Council non-levy funds to improve market access.

A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was unavailable for comment.

 

 

*This news is a quote from the「WeeklyTimesNow」.