PASE grants help producers establish and maintain international market access

• Online training program prepares seafood exporters for global markets thanks to Package Assisting Small Exporters (PASE) program grant of $316,100.
• $60,000 PASE grant to Summerfruit Australia helps stonefruit industry overcome barriers to sustainable exports.

An Australian Government grant has helped create an online training platform for small-to-medium seafood exporters and those aspiring to access overseas markets.

Agricultural Trade Group Acting Deputy Secretary, Nicola Hinder PSM, said the training resources will enable seafood businesses to assess whether they are ready to export and step them through the export process.

“Honey and Fox was awarded a $316,100 PASE grant to deliver this great project, which is now live and ready. This will help Australian producers grow their businesses and build a long-term sustainable and profitable seafood export sector,” Ms Hinder said.

“The portal offers 15 training modules providing resources to diversify product exports to new markets and help companies register as an exporter and maintain approved status so they can grow and scale.”

A separate $60,000 PASE grant has assisted Summerfruit Australia, the peak industry body for the stonefruit industry, deliver a single phytosanitary systems approach for all orchard pests to manage the risk of pest and pathogen movement through trade.

“This project is very important because the single phytosanitary systems approach can be used across all relevant trade negotiations as a tool to facilitate future market access,” Ms Hinder said.

“The new approach and tools developed from this project have given the Australian stonefruit industry a baseline to work with in relation to future market access negotiations.”

Fast Facts

• Other projects which have been completed under the $4.95 million PASE program in 2022 include:
  • A $200,000 PASE grant supported Food and Fibre Gippsland develop an online market research tool tailored for Gippsland producers/exporters to overcome access barriers to foreign markets https://www.foodandfibregippsland.com.au
  • Peak horticultural group AUSVEG delivered a $41,617 PASE project for the development of the Vegetable Exporter Business Training program to boost exporters’ business skills www.ausveg.com.au/export
  • The Australian Table Grape Association delivered two PASE projects worth more than $600,000 for the table grape, avocado, apple and pear, berries, mango, melon and summer fruit industries with bespoke mobile apps to manage maximum chemical residues limits and withholding periods, and to streamline the export accreditation process for these industries, improving compliance and reducing costs.