Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

Beyond our region our government continues to pursue and negotiate the opportunities for enhanced trade with the European Union and the United Kingdom. Together there are more than 500 million consumers across those markets, where we see high restrictions, high tariffs and limited and small quotas for many of our particularly agricultural exports. Wine Australia estimates that EU tariffs add up to 25 per cent on the import price of Australian wines into that market. Beef and sheepmeat exporters face small quotas but high tariffs in those markets, a significant imposition.

Securing better, fairer access is the goal of our free trade agreements with both the EU and the UK, and I'm pleased to say that we have entered, through virtual rounds, the eighth round of negotiations with the EU and two rounds now with the United Kingdom. We are continuing to make good progress on those and we are determined to provide further opportunities for our farmers.