Export certificate demand surges in 2016

Wine Australia’s export assistance team has had a huge end to the year, with a record number of export certificates being issued in November – 1664 certificates compared to 1129 certificates in November last year. 

To date, the team has issued 63 per cent more certificates this financial year than during the same period last year. This is largely due to the dramatic increase in exports to China. 

It is expected that the demand for export certificates will continue right up to Christmas, in the lead up to the Lunar New Year celebrations, and as exporters prepare to welcome a further tariff reduction under the China–Australia Free Trade Agreement on New Years’ Day. Currently, the tariff sits at 8.4 per cent but this will reduce to 5.6 per cent for wines that land in China on or after 1 January 2017. 

There has been a steady growth in the number of exporters taking advantage of Wine Australia’s automated Import Certificate system since it was launched in late July. In November, 67 per cent of certificates were generated through the automated system, compared to just 27 per cent in August, 53 per cent in September and 59 per cent in October. 

To further encourage the use of the automated system, we waived the $5 online certificate reprint fee as of 1 December 2016. 

We are also working closely with exporters who are not yet using the automated system to identify improvements that could be made to help them to use the system. The upgrade to the system will be scoped in early 2017 and is expected to be completed by the end of May. If you have any suggestions about how the automated system could be improved, please email them to exports@wineaustralia.com.