Media release

Australian Minister for Trade, Mark Vaile

Tuesday, August 22, 2000

Chinese wool quota announced

Trade Minister, Mark Vaile, today welcomed the announcement by the Chinese authorities of the wool quota allocation for the second half of 2000.

The Chinese State Development Planning Commission has announced a quota allocation of 153,000 tonnes, bringing the total allocation for the year to 306,000 tonnes – up 4.4 per cent on the 1999 allocation of 293,000 tonnes.

"This is welcome news for Australian woolgrowers as China is Australia's largest wool customer taking more than a third of our wool exports," Mr Vaile said.

"Australia took 60 to 70 per cent of the quota allocated for the first half of 2000, demonstrating our competitiveness in the Chinese market.?

Australia's wool exports to China totalled $854 million last financial year (1999-2000) with wool exports to all markets worth $2.96 billion, up 14.6% on the previous year.

"While the quota allocation is welcome, there are still some impediments in the Chinese market, and we're continuing to pursue better access through discussions with the Chinese Government and in multilateral negotiations on China's accession to the World Trade Organisation," Mr Vaile said.

"China is a very important market and the Coalition Government is committed to improving market access for our woolgrowers," Mr Vaile said.