According to a source familiar with the situation, trade ministers from Australia and the European Union spoke over the phone on Thursday evening. This comes as optimism grows that stumbling blocks regarding a free trade agreement (FTA) can be addressed with additional dialogue.
After a major trading partner, China imposed restrictions on a variety of Australian agricultural products as a result of a political dispute in the year 2020, Australia’s efforts to diversify its export markets would receive a big boost from a trade deal with the European Union (EU), a market that contains approximately 450 million customers.
In the month of June in Brussels, negotiations between the Trade Minister Don Farrell and the EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis came to a standstill.
On the other hand, the assistant minister of commerce for Australia, Tim Ayres, stated on the radio on Friday that another meeting might take place in the following two weeks.
“I think it’s likely that there will be a return to ministerial-level negotiations,” Ayres told Radio. “I think it’s likely that there will be a return to the ministerial level.”
“There has to be a very clear indication on the European side that we’re going to make commercially meaningful access in terms of agriculture,” he added. “This is something that needs to be very clear.”
Prior to signing a contract, Australia needs improved market access for Australian beef, sugar, and sheep meat, according to earlier statements made by Farrell.
During this week’s United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization conference in Rome, Australia’s Minister of Agriculture, Murray Watt, is expected to meet with the European Union’s Agriculture Commissioner, as well as ministers from various European nations, in order to advocate for improved market access for Australian producers. He also stated that he will meet with ministers from other European nations.
“We believe it is possible to reach an agreement which benefits both Australia and the EU and we will continue striving to achieve that,” Watt said in a statement on Friday. “We will continue to work toward achieving that.”
There is reason to believe that a deal could be reached by the middle of the year.
Dombrovskis noted in a Tweet that he had addressed the FTA in a meeting with the European Australia Business Council, which is a business organization, in Brussels on Wednesday. He also extended his sympathies on the unexpected loss of the council’s chairman Simon Crean, who was a former head of the Labor Party in the United States. Crean passed away in Germany on Sunday.
 can be addressed with additional dialogue.){kind=link}