{"id":495732,"date":"2026-02-22T00:52:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T00:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/495732\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T00:52:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T00:52:13","slug":"farmers-on-tenterhooks-as-trade-deal-with-the-european-union-edges-closer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/495732\/","title":{"rendered":"Farmers on tenterhooks as trade deal with the European Union edges closer"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new free trade deal with the European Union (EU) is imminent and Australian farmers are anxious about what it will include.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After years of negotiations, and abandoned talks in 2023, a new trade agreement between Australia and the EU<\/a> is expected to be signed within weeks.<\/p>\n

National Farmers Federation (NFF) president Hamish McIntyre is pushing for a high-quality deal but is worried about the trade-offs.<\/p>\n

“We need free trade agreements as farmers in Australia,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We produce our ethically and sustainably produced food in Australia with very little, if any, subsidy so we need to remember that.”<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, for shoppers the trade deal could create competition for some supermarket items, including cheese.<\/p>\n

\"two<\/p>\n

Progress was made when Don Farrell met EU ministers in Brussels in early February. (Supplied: Supplied: Minister for Trade and Tourism)<\/p>\n

Dairy farmers nervous about sell-out<\/p>\n

A deal would give Australian producers increased access to lucrative markets in Europe, with quota and tariff changes, but there would also be more European imports.<\/p>\n

And while it would boost competition and choice for Australian consumers, local dairy farmers are concerned they would take a hit.<\/p>\n

“We cannot afford for our dairy industry to be flooded with more product coming in from Europe that will really, really push it to the limits,” Mr McIntyre said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Hamish McIntyre\u00a0says a good free trade deal with Europe will underpin Australian agriculture for decades to come. (ABC News: Lydia Burton)<\/p>\n

Australian Dairy Farmers president Ben Bennett said Europe was a cheese “mega machine.”<\/p>\n

“The EU is the biggest cheese producer in the world by a country mile,” Mr Bennett said.<\/p>\n

“They’ll have surplus they’ll want to park in another first-world country and Australia will pay, of course.”\"man<\/p>\n

Ben Bennett is concerned Australian dairy will be sold out during free trade negotiations. (Supplied: Peter Somerville)<\/p>\n

Labels a sticking point<\/p>\n

Negotiations have also focused on geographical product names such as prosecco, kalamata olives, feta and parmesan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Victoria’s King Valley has produced most of Australia’s prosecco since the variety was planted there in 1999, with domestic production now worth $200 million.<\/p>\n

Brown Brothers winery portfolio manager Katherine Brown said she had been fighting for 15 years to keep the name, and was not giving up.<\/p>\n

“I’m feeling optimistic \u2014 hopefully we can put this prosecco-naming argument to bed,” Ms Brown said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Prosecco producers have been fighting for years to retain use of the name. (ABC Rural: Annie Brown)<\/p>\n

“It’s not just important for the King Valley, it’s important for generations to come, whether the EU keeps at us about other grape varieties like sangiovese.<\/p>\n

“Hopefully by the end of next month, we will be popping the corks on prosecco with the knowledge that we can keep the name forever.”\"A<\/p>\n

Katherine Brown hopes Australian winemakers can retain the prosecco name. (ABC Rural: Annie Brown)<\/p>\n

Australian dairy is also on edge about the future of feta, mozzarella and parmesan names.<\/p>\n

Mr Bennett said he “definitely” believed they were “at risk” of being lost to Australian producers in the deal.<\/p>\n

“We’ve been advocating to stand firm on that. Time will tell, but it is possible,” Mr McIntyre said.<\/p>\n

\"Artisan<\/p>\n

The EU wants Australia to stop using geographical names such as feta, parmesan and mozzarella. (ABC News: Marty McCarthy)<\/p>\n

High-value market opportunities<\/p>\n

While the dairy and wine industries are concerned, red meat producers are eagerly anticipating new opportunities.<\/p>\n

Riverina prime lamb producer Tom Bull, in southern New South Wales, said improved access to the “high-value” EU market was long overdue.<\/p>\n

“Since 1930, New Zealand has had 87 per cent of the quota in the EU and it certainly is very limiting.<\/p>\n

“There’s a lot of high-end food service and retail operations in the EU.”<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/p>\n

Tom Bull says a new trade deal with the EU would add value at the farm gate for sheep producers. (ABC Landline)<\/p>\n

Australian red meat representative for the Free Trade Agreement negotiations Andrew McDonald said a rebalance was needed.<\/p>\n

“We’ve got some pretty open trade for agriculture coming back this way from the EU, but we’d like to see that as a two-way street.<\/p>\n

“There’s a long gap to close in that space.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Australian lamb farmers want to be able to send more of their meat to Europe. (ABC Rural: Annie Brown)<\/p>\n

Sweet deal important<\/p>\n

Australian sugar has also struggled to find a place in the European market.<\/p>\n

After a global crash that saw prices fall almost 40 per cent since April 2025, Canegrowers chairman Owen Menkens hoped access was close.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It’s really important that we get a good deal because Australian sugar farmers are hurting at the moment,” Mr Menkens said.<\/p>\n

In January, the EU finalised a deal with Mercosur, the South American trade bloc made up of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and sugar powerhouse Brazil.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Canegrower<\/p>\n

Owen Menkens says the European refineries want Australian sugar and are willing to pay a premium, but sky-high tariffs need to go. (Supplied: Canegrowers Australia.)<\/p>\n

Farmers across the EU protested against it, but Mr Menkens said Australia should get the same deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“In that agreement, there was 180,000 tonnes of tariff-free [raw] sugar allowed into the EU from Brazil,” he said.<\/p>\n

“They should be able to allow us in as well.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

But he is concerned the federal government has not communicated with the local industry during the latest talks.<\/p>\n

“In 2023, we were right in the discussion. We were there with the [trade] minister when he was about to make the decision to sign,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“This time that hasn’t happened, we’ve been sidelined.”Government ‘on farmers’ side’<\/p>\n

Only a small number of outstanding matters are yet to be resolved after talks between Trade Minister Don Farrell and EU ministers in Brussels earlier this month.<\/p>\n

When it’s ready, the deal will go to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and EU President Ursula von de Leyen for sign-off.<\/p>\n

\"Collins<\/p>\n

Julie Collins says Australia is committed to ensuring a free trade deal with the EU is in its interests. (ABC News: Brendan Esposito)<\/p>\n

Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said the government would only accept an agreement that was better than what they walked away from in 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“The government’s on the side of Australian ag and we want a deal that’s in the nation’s best interest,” she said.<\/p>\n

“What I want to see is, across the board, Australian agriculture do better.”<\/p>\n

Ms Collins said she hoped Australia could retain the use of the product names.<\/p>\n

“They’re great Australian products and certainly those discussions continue with the EU.”<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Warwick Long<\/a>, Joshua Becker<\/a>, Annie Brown<\/a> and Kallee Buchanan<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new free trade deal with the European Union (EU) is imminent and Australian farmers are anxious about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":495733,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,29484,17471,2588,20666,80518,99717,44,249772,2185,16522],"class_list":{"0":"post-495732","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cheese","11":"tag-dairy","12":"tag-european-union","13":"tag-farmers","14":"tag-julie-collins","15":"tag-mozzarella","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-prosecco","18":"tag-rural","19":"tag-trade-deal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}