The Federal Government has committed $68.4 million to improving traceability in Australian agricultural products and increasing access to premium overseas markets, in a program announced today.
Traceability is key to maintaining Australia’s international reputation and underpinning international market premiums for Australian farm products.
Part of the initiative will see a National Traceability Summit held, and the establishment of a national agriculture traceability alliance.
A virtual hub will be developed to keep industry up to date with consumer trends, develop national data standards and take advantage of new technologies.
Grants to promote uptake and development of new technology and systems to reduce regulatory and traceability costs are part of the program.
Agriculture minister David Littleproud said investing in strong traceability frameworks and systems could add up to $1 billion a year to the bottom line of Australian farmers.
“Australia already has strong traceability systems in place, especially around food safety, origin and biosecurity,” Minister Littleproud said.
“But we can make these systems stronger by bringing them together with a national approach. That’s why we’re working with the states and territories and industry to create the National Agricultural Traceability Alliance and National Agricultural Traceability Hub.
The hub is designed to bring industry groups, research bodies, state and territory bodies and governments and together. The proposed National Traceability Summit would allow stakeholders to share their ideas and map out how the industry and government can work to make the most of the investment, Mr Littleproud said.
“The hub will be a way for government and industry groups to work together to create successful traceability projects that will deliver financial benefits to our farmers. Traceability systems will continue to show consumers that our products are safe, clean and meet sustainability standards,” he said
“Customers have shown they are willing to pay more for a product that can meet provenance and sustainability standards so our farmers will get a better price for their product. On the other side of the coin, by using the latest technology and data we are helping our farmers reduce their costs of production,” the minister said.
The creation of the National Agricultural Traceability Hub would help deliver greater traceability capability, allow stakeholders to agree to common data standards and harnessing the power technologies such as blockchain in order to demonstrate the provenance of Australia’s agricultural exports while reducing compliance burdens.
Grant will be available to encourage innovation in traceability against the roadmap, to generate value and promote them across cross all primary industries, Mr Littleproud said.