BY OLI GOELDNER
Hunter-based senator Ross Cadell said Hunter businesses will face unprecedented costs with the new Australia-European Union Free Trade Agreement.
Signed yesterday, the deal will see European goods, including food, wine and cars, become cheaper for Australian buyers.
Under the agreement, the federal government will remove the five percent tariff places on European goods.
Additionally, EU tariffs will be taken off Australian imports, including critical minerals, manufactured items and many dairy products.
However, the deal poses infringements on the classification of multiple Australian produced food and wine products.
It's reported Australian producers will be allowed to keep using the term "prosecco" for domestic sales, but they will have to be phase out the term over the next decade for exports.
Domestic manufacturers will also keep the rights to describe their wares as parmesan and kransky, but other cheese names such as feta, romano and gruyere will eventually be phased out as well.
Ross Cadell said it could have serious implications for several Hunter Valley businesses, including vineyards, abattoirs and dairy producers.
"What they'll do is they'll have to shrink their markets again," he explained.
"They'll have to find new markets by going out and spend their own money to try and find different places to sell things.
"They'll have to look at repackaging things and renaming things, there's costs involved with that."
He said he fears it may be the beginning of a hoard of new legislation adopted from European nations.
"If the EU legislation on deforestation on these things comes in, are we going to lose our grazing land," he said.
"Are we going to lose our farming land up in the valley?
"It's a real problem for us.
"I just want our farmers to be able to farm, vineyards to be able to make wine, miners to be able to mine and make Australia stronger."
