Australian rock lobster fishermen are facing growing frustration over persistent Chinese government trade restrictions, despite recent federal government assurances that they were about to be lifted. As business leaders convene in Canberra to address economic ties between Australia and China, Foreign Affairs Reporter Stephen Dziedzic has the latest.
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00:00There are still a couple of Australian meatworks which remain locked out of China, but aside
00:07from that, the only real remaining trade barrier is the one that lobsters face.
00:13Around 19 of the 20 billion or so in trade that was blocked by China has now resumed
00:18once again, in particular those exports of wine and barley that have now had the tariffs
00:24removed and a host of other industries.
00:26So its mission almost accomplished, but lobsters remain a bit of a painful irritant because
00:32despite the fact that the Trade Minister Don Farrell, the fact that he said three months
00:38ago that these were on the brink of being lifted, they remain stubbornly in place.
00:42Now China's customs agency has been in discussions with Australia's Department of Agriculture
00:49over this, so there are still talks ongoing, but as of now, the industry remains on the
00:55outer.
00:56Are there any theories as to why the restrictions remain?
01:00There are, but it's difficult to say which of them are true.
01:03Now on the one hand, this might just be explained by bureaucratic delays, so that's one plausible
01:07explanation for what's happening, but people who watch the relationship between Australia
01:11and China closely suspect that something else might be going on.
01:15Now one theory that's doing the rounds is that China is looking for a quid pro quo.
01:19Now for example, might China be angling for Australia to drop some of its anti-dumping
01:24duties that it's got on a host of Chinese products?
01:27We've known for a long time that this is a source of frustration for China.
01:30It would like some of these duties removed.
01:32So is China waiting or angling for that to happen before it lifts this ban on lobsters?
01:38We don't know for sure, Ros, but the fact that it's now been so long and the fact that
01:43lobsters remain on the outer and effectively locked out of China, except for the lobsters
01:49that managed to sneak through on the so-called grey market, it does seem to indicate that
01:53something is going on.
01:55Exactly what it is, is really difficult to say.
01:57So what does this mean for the industry?
02:00Look it means that the industry is still grappling with really low prices, or at least much lower
02:04than they had back in 2018 and 19 and 20 before the live lobsters were effectively blocked.
02:11Now as I mentioned, some lobsters are in fact getting through to China, but they're getting
02:15through via third parties and grey channels, and so middlemen and women are taking a large
02:19amount of the money there.
02:21And you don't have those really sky-high prices that the industry enjoyed back around that
02:262018 mark, when they could export directly to China.
02:30And unlike other industries, there aren't really any markets that can really approximate
02:34the Chinese market if you're looking to substitute.
02:36Yes, they've managed to increase exports to other markets, including Vietnam and to Europe,
02:41but there simply isn't the appetite or the price there.
02:44So that means that they're grappling with increasing overheads, and a substantially
02:48lower price.
02:50Now they are managing to diversify, but it's slow and difficult work.
02:54So a lot of people in the industry are really quite disappointed that this ban remains.
02:59They're hoping it might be lifted soon, but as I mentioned, there's still an awful lot
03:03of opacity around this, and it's really difficult to say if or when that might actually happen.