China wool quota talks remain positive

Australian Government Minister for Trade, Warren Truss, said today he remains optimistic that China’s demand for Australian wool will remain solid for the remainder of the year.

Mr Truss was commenting following high-level talks held in Beijing late last week in response to China’s unexpected announcement that its 2007 wool quota was fully allocated.

“Senior Australian Government officials met their counterparts from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MofCom) to seek further clarification on the status of China’s wool quota system,” Mr Truss said.

“Since the sudden announcement of 17 July, we have been working with the Chinese Government at all levels to seek explanations and discuss technical aspects of the tariff rate quota for wool.

“Talks last Friday between our officials and MofCom were quite positive and constructive.

“At the meeting, MofCom confirmed that although China’s annual 287,000 tonne quota for raw wool had been fully allocated, 110,000 tonnes of the quota was yet to be used.

“MofCom officials also confirmed that 70,000 tonnes of the annual 80,000 tonne wool top quota was yet to be filled.

“Importantly, MofCom agreed to continue a close dialogue with Australia to ensure stability in the wool market. Chinese officials also undertook to consider options if it looked likely that the quota would be filled this year.

“We will continue to monitor this issue very closely and I will raise it again with the Chinese Minister for Commerce, Bo Xilai, when I meet him for trade talks in less than a fortnight.

“Earlier today, I met with Brian Van Rooyen, Deputy Chairman of Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) to provide an update on our ongoing discussions with the Chinese authorities. The industry and I remain positive that this issue can be resolved.

“Both the Minister for Agriculture, Peter McGauran and I will continue to work closely with the Australian wool industry to ensure farmers retain access to this important market,” Mr Truss said.

Media Inquiries: Minister Truss' office 02 6277 7420 - Departmental Media Liaison 02 6261 1555