Two officers from DPIRD have been awarded a 2020 Churchill Fellowship award.

The prestigious award funds recipients to investigate an issue that they are passionate about globally, for the betterment of themselves, industry, community and Australia.

Primary Industries Trade Manager I-Lyn Loo will examine the commercial drivers behind regenerative agriculture and what motivates consumers to pay a premium price for products produced via this holistic farming system.

Livestock Identification and Traceability Manager Beth Green intends to explore what motivates the livestock industry in different countries to embrace self-regulated livestock and food safety traceability programs.

DPIRD Director General Ralph Addis said he was proud of the pair’s achievement and wished them well in their endeavours to advance Western Australia’s primary industries.

“Sustainable agricultural production and traceability for disease control and food safety are two pertinent issues facing global food production,” Mr Addis said.

“I-Lyn and Beth are both passionate about what they do and will be able to bring the learnings from their research and travels back to the department to add value and help enhance our primary industries’ right to farm.  More...  Source:  Winston Churchill Trust / DPIRD  |  Photo:  DPIRD [DPIRD Primary Industries Trade Manager I-Lyn Loo (left) and Livestock Identification and Traceability Manager, Beth Green.]

A virtual Western Australian wine masterclass held this week has demonstrated how such online events are a very cost-effective way to promote the State's premium food and beverage products.

This second wine masterclass – for 26 representatives from the Japanese hospitality, retail and media sectors – was hosted by Japan-based Mr Wataru Iwata, who was crowned Best Sommelier of Asia and Oceania 2018 by the Association De La Sommellerie Internationalle.

DPIRD, Austrade Tradestart advisers in Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA, the South West Development Commission, and JTSI's WA Government Office in Tokyo partnered with GRN Corporation Limited, a wine importer in Japan, to host this event.

The wine masterclass featured Blind Corner Cabernet 2018 Vintage and Riverbank Rebellious 2019 Chenin Blanc.  Cabernet is a hero variety for the Margaret River wine region and Chenin Blanc for the Swan Valley Wine Region.

This is the first time the Riverbank Rebellious Chenin Blanc was introduced to the Japan market. 

For further information on upcoming wine masterclasses, please email export@dpird.wa.gov.au.  Source & Photo:  DPIRD

Do you know the real value of your business and what to do when you want to seek investment, sell or retire?

Join us for this free virtual masterclass where we discuss ways to value businesses and data when preparing sales and investment data.

A handbook and follow up support will be provided.

The virtual masterclasses are suited to Western Australian business leaders, entrepreneurs and owners that need advice or resources to navigate the investment and capital raising processes and increase competitiveness.

Dates: 14 October and 9 December 2020   Time: 9:30am to 4:30pm (AWST)

Free Online Event   Register Now

About the Masterclasses: The virtual workshops are part of a masterclass series delivered by BDO Australia in proud partnership with the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.

About BDO Australia: BDO Australia is leading accountancy and business advisory organisation that looks for innovative ways for businesses to maximise growth opportunities and improve processes.  More...  Source & Graphic:  DPIRD / BDO

Food businesses need to be vigilant about their responsibilities to their employees as well as consumers. 

The Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology has developed guidelines to assist food processors to mitigate the risks to employees presented by the COVID-19 virus. This includes:

• protecting the health of your employees, their families, and the broader community
• ensuring the uninterrupted supply of food to Australian consumers
• facilitating, as far as possible, business continuity, ensuring business survival and safeguarding job security for your workforce.

In this webinar on 6 October 2020 at 11 am AWST, you will hear from Deon Mahoney, the author of this guide, and Craig Shadbolt, from the New South Wales Food Authority, on strategies to keep your food processing operation running and your workforce safe.  More...  Source:  AIFST 

As a part of Australia's negotiations with the European Union (EU) on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the Federal Government has opened public consultations on possible new geographical indications.

Consistent with its approach towards other FTA partners, the EU has identified the protection of GIs as one of its key objectives in the negotiations.  The Federal Government has made no commitment to protect specific EU GIs and has made clear it would only consider doing so if the overall FTA deal was good enough for Australia, including by delivering on Australia’s agricultural market access interests.

A number of online roundtables on GIs, organised by IP Australia, are taking place:

• Roundtable on standard of protection (13 October, 9-10am AWST) – Register | Paper
• Roundtable on Australian use of GIs (15 October, 9-10am AWST) – Register | Paper
• Roundtable on general operation of a possible GI System (20 October, 9-10am AWST) – Register
• Roundtable GIs and Indigenous knowledge (22 October, 9-10am AWST) – Register

More...  Source:  IP Australia  |  Graphic:  DFAT

Mainland China and Hong Kong remain strong markets for Australian abalone, Austrade reports in its latest market insight.

In 2019 Australia exported over $143 million of abalone products including live, chilled or frozen to world markets.  Mainland China accounts for 56 per cent of the total, with Hong Kong taking 20 per cent.  At the end of July 2020, China had imported 305 tonnes of live abalone from Australia, a 33 per cent decline from the same period in 2019. 

WA exported a total of $3.5 million of abalone in 2019, $162,800 (5 per cent) to mainland China and $2.2 million (63 per cent) to Hong Kong – with 95 per cent frozen.  At the end of July 2020, China and Hong Kong imported 6.9 tonnes of abalone from WA, down 7 per cent compared to the same time in 2019, although the value increased 5 per cent to $1.2 million.  More...  |  Related:  Latest insights from Austrade |  Source:  Austrade / Kate Pritchett, DPIRD  |  Photo:  DPIRD

COVID-19 infection rates and economic activity are doing better in Australia's key markets than elsewhere, Rabobank says in its Australian Agribusiness Monthly and COVID-19 October 2020 update.

The report says Australia primarily sells staples to consumers who have been well-supported by governments, and has managed to has keep its supply chains open, while some countries have stumbled. 

Highlighting how important government support schemes have been to consumers, Rabobank says while global economic activity continues to improve month-on-month, outside of China it remains well short of pre-COVID levels.  More...  Source: Rabobank  |  Photo: Perth Airport

During October and November, the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Connections 2020 webinar program is running four industry sector webinars focusing on the Gulf Cooperation Council markets’ great opportunities for Australian exporters to diversify given the current volatility in global trade.  

These events are organised by Austrade, the Australia Arab Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

With the United Arab Emirates continuing to play a vital ‘hub’ role in the region, the food and beverage industry is witnessing a significant shift in trends and consumer demand.  More...  Source:  AACCI  |  Photo: paweldotio / Unspalsh

The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE) advises the citrus industry that applications are now open for the accreditation of packhouses to export to protocol markets for the 2021 season. 

Packhouses exporting citrus to South Korea, China, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, and USA for the 2021 season must apply for accreditation.

Application forms must be completed by 2pm AWST on Saturday 31 October 2020 through the Citrus Australia registration system.  More...  Source:  DAWE  |  Photo:  DPIRD

COVID-19 has exposed some of the fragilities inherent to value chains and economic interdependence.  Being unable to rely on international markets has injected new urgency into the debate over on-shoring and near-shoring supply chains, World Trade Organisation Deputy Director-General Alan Wolff said this week.

In remarks delivered to the 2020 Havencongres Rotterdam, he said moving value chains closer to home is not straightforward, is sometimes impractical, and in many cases, would carry major opportunity costs.

Mr Wolff said in agriculture, on-shoring and near-shoring is not the most likely or even possible answer.  The answer lies is diversifying or temporarily shifting sources of supply.

Concentrating production in a single territory exposes the country to locally concentrated shocks: natural disasters or domestic economic or political crises.  Deep international markets are more resilient in the face of such shocks, he said.  More...  | Related: WTO members intensify work on technical barriers to trade  | Source & Photo:  WTO