November 5, 2013

 

 

Since a ban on the import of Australian rapeseed to China was lifted in May this year, over 500,000 tonnes of rapeseed valued at US$326 million has left Australian shores and may reach up to one million tonnes could be shipped to China in the 2013-14 harvest period.

 

And now, in the second season since the resumption of the trade, many potential opportunities are likely to emerge for Western Australian rapeseed growers.

 

The Department of Agriculture signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) earlier this year that allowed the export of rapeseed to China from all ports except Wallaroo and Port Adelaide in South Australia, and Albany due to high incidence of blackleg fungus in seed samples.

 

Chinese officials had enforced the restriction three years ago amid concerns over the detection of blackleg fungus in Australian rapeseed shipments collected in 2011.

 

The resumption of the trade was dependent on imports only being received in Chinese port zones remote from Chinese rapeseed producing areas, to reduce the risk of blackleg fungus reaching Chinese rapeseed production.

 

The MOU signed between the Department and The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China (AQSIQ) also included a joint collaborative research project between Australia and China, sharing knowledge and science about the management of blackleg at the farm level as well as standardised testing methodologies for blackleg management.

 

Two central figures that won back the right to export to the Asian giant were the Australian Oilseeds Federation (AOF) and the Grains Industry Market Access Forum (GIMAF).

 

AOF executive officer Nick Goddard confirmed orders had already been taken for the 2013-14 harvest by China. He admitted last year was a 'lucky break', as the approval was given to resume shipments in March, which was commonly a time of limited grain supply, but an oversupply of rapeseed had resulted from a record season.

 

Goddard said a record rapeseed crop of about 4.2 million tonnes was produced Australia-wide last year, and estimated the national crop would reach between 3.2 million tonnes and 3.5 million tonnes this year.

 

GIMAF executive officer Tony Russell said the market had huge potential and although European markets continued to provide as a prominent market for Australian rapeseed, China would likely increase its prominence as a market option.

 

Russell said Australia had enjoyed good market opportunities during times of lower crop production in Europe and neighbouring production regions in recent years. He said Canada had experienced difficulty in gaining good market access into Europe for food grade seed due to the high proportion of genetically modified (GM) rapeseed.

 

But according to Russell, opportunities for trade were contracting in Europe due to higher crop production.

 

While it is good news for most, the excluded zones including Albany, still didn't have access to the trade.

 

"We've been working quite hard over the past couple of months to get samples together to test from those port zones that were excluded in the first year. Namely in the Albany, Port Adelaide and Wallaroo zones, we have been collecting and testing all of those samples of shipments of rapeseed that have gone out of those port zones.