Last week marked the first parliamentary sitting week of 2016 and what better way to end the week than with the signing of the agreed text for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The TPP is a landmark regional trade agreement covering some of the world’s largest economies including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, NZ, Singapore, USA and Vietnam. It is certainly the next step forward in advancing opportunities for Australian agriculture and food exporters.
The latest in a string of trade deals signed by the Australian Government, the TPP aims to drive stronger profits to Australian agricultural and food producers by cutting tariffs and opening new opportunities.
In addition to the TPP, the Government is now working toward bilateral agreements with India and Indonesia where demand for agricultural and food products is set to boom in the coming decades.
Also in the Government’s sights is improved technical market access. Tariff reductions and eliminations are essential but we also need to achieve technical market access to translate Free Trade Agreement outcomes into real opportunities.
For more information on the TPP Agreement visit http://dfat.gov.au/trade/agreements/tpp/Pages/trans-pacific-partnership-agreement-tpp.aspx
For more information on technical market access, see
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I was very pleased to hear that Australians will soon be able to register online as organ donors in less than ten minutes.
Minister for Rural Health, Senator the Hon Fiona Nash announced last week that as of May 2016, registering to become an organ donor will be a one-step, online process able to be completed in less than 10 minutes without any paperwork.
The Coalition Government will run awareness campaigns including distributing the link on social media, but government alone can’t increase the number of donors; we need Australians to register as organ donors.
Only 1.8 million of 24 million Australians are registered organ donors. However an estimated 4.3 million Australians have at some stage signalled intent to become a donor but have not completed the paperwork required under the current system.
If these people now complete their registrations, we could quickly triple the donor pool and save more lives.
Please make sure that when you do register as a donor you let your family members know about your decision.
