Australian goods and services exports fell by 4% to around A$34 billion between June and July. In particular, rural exports declined by 15% and services exports fell by 12%. Total exports declined by around 12% since the beginning of the year (between January and July).

But what you do not pick up from these figures, are the struggles of SME exporters due to COVID-19 and the lockdowns. Further, we have not yet seen the full impact of the declining trade relationship with our major trading partners, (specifically China).

Trade plays a vital role in Australia’s continued economic success, with over one quarter of our economic growth over the past 5 years generated by trade and one in five jobs relating to trade.

If economies do not start to open soon, many small -and medium- sized businesses, family run-owned business, SME exporters will shut down permanently. There are some new to exporting, that made million-dollar investments in December-January, only to see all prospects disappear due to COVID-19. Others have been in business for many years, but still lost all their buyers. They are keeping staff on board with JobKeeper (government assistance), but this is not proving sufficient, and they are unclear about how long they can hold on.

And there are the lucky ones, where demands for their products increased, but had challenges accessing supply inputs and limited shipping options. Also, we have exporters in the services sector, that have been able to deliver their offerings on-line. However, a key problem, for those still able to operate, is getting their goods on ships and planes, and when they do, it is costing them 7-10 times what it would normally cost them.

We welcome the recent announcement by the Federal Government in backing Australian businesses to grow their exports and create jobs through reforms to the Export Market Development Grants (EMDG) scheme, after an independent review of financial assistance for small and medium enterprise exporters. The EMDG scheme is a key Government financial assistance program to help aspiring and current exporters increase their marketing and promotional activities in international markets. Last year alone over 4000 Small and Medium Enterprises accessed the EMDG scheme, employing almost 69,000 Australians and generating exports worth $3.7 billion. Federal Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said better assisting Australian exporters to enter new markets or expand their presence in existing markets would be critical to boosting export activity and supporting Australia’s economic recovery from COVID-19.

However, we urge the government to include more trade-specific initiatives in its forthcoming budget. Please read our recent Media release.

As the voice for Australian exporters the Export Council of Australia recognises the challenges and constraints faced by the government but, now more than ever, they need to lead here and internationally. The government must take immediate action towards a comprehensive and practical trade-led economic recovery.

We look forward to working constructively with the Australian Government and other stakeholders in order to assist our members and fellow Australians through these difficult economic times.

Joining the Australia Awards Alumni and making connections with the Australian Embassy in Nepal through Basanti’s role at the Federation of Woman Entrepreneurs’ Association in Nepal (FWEAN) has also led to the development of an online sales platform to support women entrepreneurs during COVID-19.

Read on for Basanti’s story.

I BELIEVE I CAN

Basanti Pradhan, CEO, Batika Nepal Pvt. Ltd.

I learnt how to make an International Business Plan, to select, study and recognise the target market and and how to approach it. I learnt to recognise and advertise my USP building emotional stories around it. I also learnt about push strategies and media strategies. Pitching and presentation skills, freight and logistics, export documentation and legal considerations.

I have been highly influenced by this short course on business acceleration. I learnt very unique methods that have made an impact on my business model. Give more time to research and marketing than for producing products. These researches would be able to bring on small changes in my business model to give my products Unique Selling Proposition that would make my product competitively advantageous. Spending more in the marketing aspect also put me in advantage of selling more products than I would normally.

I became an Alumni of Australia Awards, which brought a whole new world and connections to my sphere of business.

As I am the Secretary of Federation of Womans Entrepreneurs’ Association of Nepal (FWEAN) I have had the privilege of being a committee member in different committees of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Nepal. I was able to recommend women entrepreneur friendly policies and legislations in the current fiscal budget of Nepal where almost all the recommended policies were implemented. I was also able to research on all Nepal Business Sectors and recognise 20 businesses as self reliant for further improvement friendly policies from the Government.

During COVID-19 our Federation has and is providing a lot of trainings and mentoring session to our 5,000 plus members via virtual meetings. The trainings included mental health, good governance and best practices, safety protocol in business during COVID-19 and online business. We have also had virtual workshops to identify constraints faced by women entrepreneurs to lobby and advocate to the government.

The best thing is that the Australian Embassy has granted us funds, due to His Excellency Mr. Peter Budd’s generosity, to relaunch FWEAN’s online portal WINBIZ which will serve as an online platform for women entrepreneurs to showcase and sell their products, as marketing through shops seem a little impossible during these trying times. We are also planning on a virtual one day plenary session to disseminate the knowledge we gained from the WTG short course to at least a 100 women entrepreneurs all over Nepal, who again will be able to reach out to 5,000 plus women entrepreneurs.

I got new export orders from Taiwan but that has been postponed due to COVID-19. I was also going to visit Australia again on 10 April 2020, which also got cancelled due to COVID-19.

COVID- 19  has made me take a U-turn in my business. WTG Short course has enabled and enhanced my outlook on business and my capacities as an entrepreneur. Nepalese have started to turn their homes green and floriculture is flourishing locally. Business abroad has been impacted disastrously on exports as they have been very badly affected financially. This may take many years to become stable again post COVID- 19.

I opened a new company that would “go local”, Batika Nepal Pvt. Ltd. And have formulated new business ideas and creations with great USPs and Value Proposition through what I have learnt during my WTG short course. I plan to make more women entrepreneurs along my value chain who can produce various floriculture products for me. There are more than 5,000 plus women in our network who want to be engaged and empowered. The geological differences of their homes will allow me to tap into various floriculture products that I alone would not be able to produce in my farm.

This way I will be able to impact on 3 levels:

• Micro – engage and empower women
• Meso – create a sustainable value chain in floriculture exemplary to other floriculture businesses
• Macro – almost all floriculture businesses are importing and selling thus acting as a trader, but my business will be able to showcase a Go Local and Export Industry

I was very impressed by the networking sessions, field visits and panel discussions. I have become a more capable business leader after WTG short course.

I am making a story that will be remembered along generations to come.
I BELIEVE I CAN.

With closures of stores across the world including Australia they were receiving cancelled orders daily, and they were left  with undelivered stock lying in all countries.

The company made the effort to contact its stores in all countries and reassured them that they would support them through this crisis. This no pressure reassuring approach, whilst risking their business, strengthened mutual relationships with Orientique’s customers across the globe.

They held stock at discounted prices and extended payment terms for all customers until stores reopened. Also, they closed the headquarters in mid March reopening first week May. All staff were paid through closure.

Not surprisingly Orientique’s customers supported them when they reopened and needed to replenish their stocks.

Whilst company’s sales from mid – March and April were zero and their write offs exceeded 200k, they were able to clear the season and strengthen the relationships with customers everywhere!

Although the market is cautious about what lies ahead, Orientique sees upcoming seasons as an opportunity to be able to service their customers in a period where others have chosen to be careful and will therefore not have stock available.

At Orientique, they are very excited to see a new Summer season launching into Europe, UK and the US. Orientique’s prints and colour offer an opportunity for a fresh COVID-19 start for all!

COVID-19 has impacted everyone across the globe in a commercial and personal way. Their greatest learning through all of this crisis is the strength of relationships at a time when we all must work together.

Relationships matter!

Senator the Hon Simon Birmingham Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate, Senator for South Australia said in his welcome remarks, when launching the program last week, “this course has been developed to assist Australian vegetable growers who wish to either become export-ready or enhance their export capabilities to further build on their current international presence.”Course Content

The Export Fundamentals for Australian Vegetable Growers training program contains the following 11 e-learning modules:

• Module 1: Why Export
• Module 2: Vegetable Export Overview
• Module 3: Export Readiness
• Module 4: Market Access & Market Research
• Module 5: Vegetable Industry Market Access
• Module 6: International Market Entry
• Module 7: International Marketing & Meeting Customers
• Module 8: Export Documentation
• Module 9: Freight & Logistics
• Module 10: Finance & Pricing
• Module 11: Pathway to Exporting Vegetables

Access to this training course for national vegetable levy paying growers is funded by Hort Innovation using the Vegetable Research and Development Levy and contributions from the Australian Government. For further information, contact the AUSVEG Export Department at export@ausveg.com.au.

Pax is a secure, cloud-based app, accessible from a website optimised for desktops. It will work with any modern browser, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge (but not Internet Explorer).

Benefits of Pax

Pax has been developed to deliver a more modern, user-friendly experience, providing you with a simpler communications interface and better visibility of the progress of your sanctions matters. Pax will make it easier for regulated entities, such as individuals, businesses, government agencies, and other organisations, to engage with the ASO on sanctions matters in a consistent and efficient way.

Benefits include:

• Easy account creation for individuals or organisations
• All regulatory issues, including sanctions queries, requests for Indicative Assessments, and Applications for sanctions permits will dealt with on the same platform
• It will be easier for users to track progress and seek updates, and
• Users can view their current and previous engagement with the ASO, at any time.

What does this mean for me?

• OSAS will no longer be available and, from 1 October 2020, all sanctions queries and matters will need to be lodged through Pax.
• The OSAS log-in page and all links to OSAS on the DFAT website will be removed. Any OSAS matters submitted after this date will not be accepted.
• The Sanctions Inbox (sanctions@dfat.gov.au) will no longer be used for sanctions queries – submit queries via the Contact Us section on Pax (with or without registering through the Pax homepage).
• Should you have any outstanding sanctions queries in the Sanctions Inbox, these will be actioned and you will receive a response in due course.
• If practical for your business, we encourage you to avoid submitting new sanctions matters into OSAS until Pax is live.

What if I have current or ongoing matter/s in OSAS when Pax is launched?

• Existing OSAS matters will be finalised in OSAS – there will be no transfer of matters from OSAS to Pax.
• OSAS users will be emailed on the day Pax is launched with instructions on how to continue accessing OSAS until your matter is finalised.
• Should you want to keep a copy of your previous OSAS matters for your records, we recommend you download copies of your matters prior to the launch of Pax.

What happens next?

When Pax is live, we will email you further details and update the ASO page on the DFAT website. We have developed training materials which will be available for you to access directly from the Pax homepage:

• Quick Reference Guides
• A comprehensive Applicant User Guide

Where can I get more information?

Refer to the Easy Pax Map attached for a simple overview. If you have any questions about Pax prior to its launch on 1 October 2020, you can email us at sanctions@dfat.gov.au.

What is also an important consideration is that e-commerce represents the primary means for Micro and Small to Medium Enterprises (MSME) to market and sell their products. That level of importance is magnified for those at the “micro” level who only have the e-commerce option to bring their products to consumers. E-commerce underpins the ability of those “micro” traders to start their business and improve their standard of living.

Capacity constraints

Of course, consumers expectations for immediate gratification from their purchases have not always been met as production in many countries ceased or slowed and much of the air cargo capacity has disappeared due to COVID-19. Even when production began to return in source countries such as China, the capacity to carry the goods by air is still nowhere near previous levels and suppliers have been required to change their supply chains to include a mixture of air and sea cargo or merely to resort to moving the goods solely by sea cargo with containers laden with thousands of goods sold by one supplier to many customers. This has placed a massive burden on customs electronic reporting systems designed for lower and more predictable levels of trade with many lines being needed to be completed for cargo reports and import declarations.
As there is no foreseeable reduction in demand for goods through the e-commerce channel, the issue is how that trade can be facilitated and expedited without compromise to normal border controls for safety, revenue and biosecurity which have not diminished.

The global e-commerce market

According to a report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development dated 27 April 2020, e-commerce sales hit $25.6 trillion (tn) globally in 2018, up 8% from 2017. In a report dated 23 July 2020, the US Congressional Research Service, estimated that in 2018, 1.8 billion (bn) people globally purchased goods online. That reportalso includes a diagram from Statista.com dated 12 July 2020 setting out estimated global revenue from e-commerce by country for 2020 adjusted for COVID–19 with the five leading nations in $US being:

• China (1,006.2tn);
• US (386.4bn);
• Japan (99.9bn);
• UK (92.2bn); and
• Germany (83.4bn).

That same research reflects that Australia is currently the 10th largest e-commerce market in the world by revenue with e-commerce estimated to grow to an anticipated market size of about A$35.bn (US$ 25.2bn) by 2021.

These high levels of trade have received attention in other international forums including a recent report by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on “Ecommerce Trade and the COVID–19 Pandemic” where the WTO has made some detailed assessments of how trade has changed. Similar work from the World Customs Organization (WCO) can be found in the summary of results from a member survey on the topic.

There are some common themes to both studies, such as the need to improve facilitation of trade through improved secure messaging and exchanges of information and enhanced relationships between all agencies operating at the border and those in the private sector through use of terminology, messaging and reporting systems.

These are also concepts which can be found in related work under the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement and various iterations of the WCO’s Revised Kyoto Convention. One example of the desired outcome from these and related sources is the adoption by each country of an electronic “single window to trade”.

Australian approaches

In addition to its work in the international environment, Australia has also focused significant attention on e-commerce issues. That had included being the first country to introduce Goods and Services Tax (GST) on “low-value transactions” in part as a response to complaints that those selling through e-commerce from overseas had an unfair advantage over local retailers. That seems to have recovered GST well in excess of original estimates but may not have diminished our appetite for online purchases.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has established a web page summarising relevant e-commerce issues. The Federal Parliament has conducted a number of inquiries including an Internet Competition Inquiry, an Inquiry into the Trade System and the Digital Economy by the Joint Standing Committee on Trade and Investment Growth leading to the Report entitled “Trade and the Digital Economy” which the Joint Standing Committee issued a further report in May 2020 entitled “Trade Transformation – Supporting Australia’s export and investment opportunities”.

Australia also recognises the importance of e-commerce internationally by the inclusion of Chapters to facilitate e-commerce in 14 of its Free Trade Agreements. The most recent initiative is the Australia – Singapore Digital Economy Agreement signed on 6 August, which included a memorandum of understanding (MOUs) on data innovation, cooperation on artificial intelligence, trade facilitation, cooperation on electronic invoicing and electronic certification cooperation.

Engagement with the private sector

The Federal Government has also taken steps to engage with the private sector through the National Committee on Trade Facilitation (NCTF) which incorporates a specialist sub-committee known as the Trade Facilitation Initiatives Working Group (TFIWG). This is a forum where government agencies including the Department of Home Affairs, the Australian Border Force (ABF) and the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE) work with members of the private sector to advance such issues, to report back to the NCTF with recommended initiatives.

Current and future challenges

There is no doubt that the continued growth of e-commerce places significant pressure on all parties in the supply chain including international agencies such as the WTO and the WCO as well as national governments and their border agencies. Facilitation of e-commerce is vital both for those already using the system and those MSMEs using the system as their first rung in improving their economic prosperity. That pressure is seen in interruptions to the information technology used by border agencies.

Some proposed changes

Given the current environment and appetite for e-commerce, government and its agencies need to consolidate and expedite their efforts to secure a regime to facilitate this trade without compromise to the legitimate movement of goods. Some thoughts on some relevant developments are as follows

• A comprehensive and urgent review of the ABF Integrated Cargo System (ICS) which operates as the main portal for reporting the movement of good at the border, both for import and export. It was designed over 15 years ago and while there have been regular upgrades it has been subject to recent outages and slow-downs mainly arising from numbers of e-commerce transactions being undertaken through sea cargo.
• Some substantive work on a single window for trade in Australia. There has already been broad engagement on the issue for some time and while the MOU with Singapore (referred to above) does refer to “single – ledger” work between the two countries, my sense is that industry would like to see substantive outcomes in a system which allows transactions to be actually recorded and processed even in limited parameters. I believe everyone acknowledges that there is no current likelihood of a single window to allow reporting cross all agencies but there must be a more limited outcome worthy of pursuit even if it is only one interface or forum where parties can get access to all border agencies information as opposed to needing to have recourse to a variety of different websites.
• Working to standardise terminology and concepts across different agencies such as the approach to “fit and proper” which concept is used with different criteria across a variety of agencies.
• Looking at ways in which artificial intelligence and related remotely directed investigation could be incorporated into the review of transactions or relevant goods under review of the agencies. The DAWE has already moved into this field with some positive results.
• Adopting some new level of regulation over the activity of those reporting the e-commerce transactions. Much of the e-commerce world can transact through “self – assessed clearance declarations” (SAC). As the e-commerce world expands, so do the number of SACs which can be lodged by persons who are not subject licensing requirements as are licensed customs brokers. I am not proposing a process identical to that of a Licensed Customs Broker but can see merit in a form of regulation requiring registration of relevant parties with a requirement for them to be “fit and proper”. These parties have access to the ICS and the ABF has regularly reported concerns on the misuse of SACs.

Our Customs and Trade team are well placed to advise you on aspects of Australian and international e-commerce.

Australian manufacturers responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with distinction. Now, we rely on
Australian manufacturing to be one of the country’s heavy lifters in leading the economy out of recession and on to the road toward a solid recovery with greater capability.

The Ten Ways report aims to help manufacturers identify areas where they may want to seek extra assistance. It is arranged so that any of the ten recommendations can be used independently, or in combination, depending upon a business’s circumstances. It contains clear advice and local case studies to explain how to implement steps for change.

Australia can transition from being a lucky country to a smart country. We know that when Australian manufacturers ‘add value’ to a product or service it is greatly respected and becomes more globally competitive. Australian manufacturing carries a strong reputation internationally, it is a broad capability that cuts across all sectors, and now is the time to seize the momentum that is underway.

AMGC and the ECA are looking forward to this coming era of manufacturing capability. AMGC is enormously proud of its 2,500+ members’ efforts. This report reflects the achievements of successful manufacturers and we are pleased to share many of the winning formulas with you.

Full research report you can download here.

Why Malaysia?

• Opening Speech from NSW Trade and Investment.
• Malaysian Economic Updates by Dr. Anthony Dass, Group Chief Economist, AmBank Research.
• Business and Investment Opportunities, in Malaysia by Ms. Fatmah Ahmad, Director, Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) Australia.
• Insights on Doing Business in Malaysia by Mr. Grahame Aston, Managing Director, PPC Moulding Services Pty. Ltd.
• Comments from Ms. Dianne Tipping, Chair of Board of Directors, Export Council of Australia.
• A moderated online Q&A session.

A panel of experts will discuss the opportunities, advantages, incentives, eco-system, and infrastructure that enable sustainable growth for collaboration between the two business communities. The webinar will be held on Thursday, 24 September, 4pm AEST.

Among the urgent actions are: growing biosecurity threat to grain and oilseed products around the world. It can also seriously infest cargo – even packed and plastic-wrapped cargo.

Khapra beetle (Trogoderma granarium) is Australia’s number two National Priority Plant Pest and the number one plant priority pest for grains. It is not present in Australia, but it is a highly invasive pest that poses a major threat to Australia’s grains industry. The species feeds directly on goods such as stored grain and dry food stuffs, which can result in significant damage. Infested goods may also become contaminated with beetles and cast larval skins and hairs, which can be a health risk and are difficult to remove from grain storage structures and transport vessels.

Goods that have been thermally processed and commercially manufactured and packaged such as retorted, blanched, roasted, fried, boiled, puffed, malted or pasteurised goods, and commercially manufactured frozen food and frozen plant products or oils derived from vegetables or seed will be exempt. Read more here.