• Seed potato producers in Corangamite have market access to Indonesia.
• The protocol was signed at a bilateral forum in Melbourne yesterday.
• Only Western Australian seed potatoes previously had access.

More than 200 seed potato farmers across Victoria will be celebrating after today’s breakthrough in securing new market access to Indonesia.

Member for Corangamite, Sarah Henderson said delivering this market access would provide opportunities for seed potato farmers to now compete in premium markets with the best produce the world has to offer.

“Agricultural trade is a priority for the Coalition Government and we are delivering, not just sitting around like couch potatoes on this issue,” Ms Henderson said.

“The export protocol has been on the boil for a while and today we finally got it over the line – this will take an industry with a current production value of $520.3 million, to new heights.

“Today’s signing paves the way for trade in seed potatoes from Victoria and more importantly Corangamite to commence as soon as possible, whenever farmers are ready.

Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources David Littleproud said this was a fantastic result for farmers across the state—as major seed potato producers—and builds on current seed potato access for Western Australia.

“Australia and Indonesia have a strong bilateral partnership, with two-way trade worth $4.28 billion in 2016-17 in agriculture alone,” Minister Littleproud said.

“Australia is a trading nation and we continue to support our farmers as they sell our premium produce for premium prices to overseas markets.”

The Coalition Government has secured free-trade agreements with three significant export markets—Japan, Korea and China—and just signed the Peru-Australia Free Trade Agreement and recently concluded the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.

• Through the Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper, we are investing $30.8 million to break down technical barriers to trade, and appointed five new agricultural counsellors in key small markets.
• In the agriculture portfolio since January 2016, we have had 64 key market access gains or restorations and 57 key market access improvements or actions to maintain market access.