Australian wine welcomes A-EU trade deal but meat industry not happy

After around 10 years in negotiations, the Australia and the European Union (EU) free trade agreement was signed off on 24 March 2026.

Once fully implemented, 94.8% of the value of Australia’s agricultural exports will enter the EU duty-free. Tariffs will be eliminated on:

• wine
• tree nuts
• barley
• seafood
• onions, carrots
• honey
• olive oil.

Australian Grape & Wine said it welcomed key elements of the Australia–European Union Free Trade Agreement (A-EU FTA), including the removal of tariffs on Australian wine exports to EU member states, while noting significant implications for producers exporting Australian Prosecco.

Under the agreement, Australian wine exported to the European Union will receive zero tariff treatment upon entry into force, delivering an estimated AU$14.5 million per year in tariff savings.

Chief Executive of Australian Grape & Wine Lee McLean said the tariff outcome was a commercially meaningful result for the sector.

“The removal of tariffs on Australian wine entering the EU is good news for our exporters and for the long-term competitiveness of Australian wine in a major global market. Europe remains Australia’s largest export region by volume. In 2025 alone, 245 Australian wine exporters shipped 76 million litres of wine valued at $143 million to EU member markets.”

The agreement also confirms that Australian producers will retain the right to use the term “Prosecco” as a grape variety in the Australian market. This will also be the case for cheeses such as Feta.

“The government has successfully negotiated the retention of the name Prosecco for use in Australia’s domestic market. That provides certainty for a domestic prosecco market worth in the order of $200 million per year.”

However, under the agreement Australian producers will no longer be able to export Australian Prosecco, following a 10-year phase-out period.

“We continue to maintain that Prosecco is a grape variety and that efforts to restrict its use are nothing more than protectionist measures used to distort trade to the advantage of EU producers. This is clearly a blow for those Australian producers who currently export Australian Prosecco, who will need to transition away from using that term for export markets.

“Encouragingly, we understand the agreement helps safeguard Australian producers’ ability to use established grape variety names, including those that may face future GI claims — avoiding a repeat of the prolonged uncertainty experienced by Prosecco producers.”

Meat industry says it has been let down

For key agricultural products where tariffs are not eliminated, the A-EU FTA will create annual tariff rate quotas, including on:

• most dairy products including cheese
• beef
• sheep meat
• milled/semi-milled rice
• sugar
• ethanol
• wheat gluten
• natural butter
• skimmed milk powder
• high protein whey.

“Australia’s red meat sector has been profoundly let down by this outcome,” said the Chair of the Australia–EU Red Meat Market Access Taskforce, Andrew McDonald.

“The Australian red meat industry has been crystal clear that the FTA negotiations were the ideal mechanism to finally address the EU’s punitive and highly discriminatory import regime.

“Yet the agreement delivers just 30,600 tonnes carcase weight (cwt) of beef access over the next 10 years, when a minimum of 50,000 tonnes (cwt) was required simply to be in line with what the EU has offered our competitors.

“On sheep meat and goat meat, the result is equally disappointing: 25,000 tonnes (cwt) over seven years, despite Australian industry requesting a minimum of 67,000 tonnes cwt.

“This stands in stark contrast to New Zealand’s access of 163,769 tonnes — which is an outrageous discrepancy.

“To land a deal so far below what other suppliers have secured is genuinely bewildering.

“The agreement is a long way from anything resembling ‘free and fair trade’, particularly given Australia already provides the EU with quota‑ and tariff‑free access for meat products like pork, while the A‑EU FTA locks in perpetual volume constraints on Australian red meat entering the EU.”

The Australia–EU Red Meat Market Access Taskforce is made up of representatives from Australia’s red meat supply chain and Australia’s red meat Peak Industry Bodies, including: Red Meat Advisory Council (RMAC), Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council (ALEC), Australian Lot Feeders’ Association (ALFA), Australian Meat Industry Council (AMIC), Cattle Australia (CA), Goat Industry Council of Australia (GICA), Sheep Producers Australia (SPA), and industry service providers Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) and Australian Meat Processor Corporation (AMPC).

Image credit: iStock.com/igorr1