Submission on Australia-Gulf Cooperation Council FTA negotiations

Organic Operators Australia welcomes the opportunity to make a submission in support of the Australia-GCC FTA. OOA fully supports FTA with the GCC opening opportunities for Australia to export Certified Organic goods to UAE and the wider GCC.

The UAE is a priority market for the organic industry on the basis of discerning value-led consumer market. Foods that are free from genetic engineering and synthetic chemical contamination are increasingly sought after in mature consumer markets. As a leader in certified organic foods, Australia has a clear opportunity to meet this need.

Critical to market access is bilateral agreement on organic certification standards equivalence, whereby GCC markets would accept products certified organic under Australia’s export standard to be equivalent with product labelling in GCC as certified organic.

Organic Operators Australia is keen to support with any further information as required through the consultation process with the UAE.

Submission link