Tiny fruit fly sours Australia's big agri export ambitions

Sydney

A TINY fruit fly is undermining Australia's efforts to grow its US$3 billion fruit and vegetable exports, despite the country reaching a series of free trade agreements (FTAs) with its largest trading partners in Asia.

Australia sealed trade agreements with China, Japan and South Korea last year - deals that guaranteed a significant reduction in tariffs for agriculture produce - and were heralded as a catalyst for rapid expansion in exports.

The tariff cuts have pushed sales of agriculture produce to all-time highs, but difficulty obtaining biosecurity permits - so-called phytosanitary protocol agreements - means many fruits in particular cannot be sold into markets such as China, makin…