All Australian exporters of farm products are about to cop a large increase in their costs, potentially threatening thousands of rural jobs.
Various fees and charges paid by meat processors, for instance, are about to rise by between nine and 1352 per cent, according to documents that originated within the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS).
The same documents also reveal that from last Friday AQIS has started work to introduce the changes by July 1 this year.
But Agriculture Minister Tony Burke yesterday said the move to make AQIS a user-pays system would have the same affect on exporters as a small movement in the value of the Australian dollar.
"Costs to exporters would be the same as a 0.5pc movement in the Australian dollar," Mr Burke said.
However, the documents show the cost of an export document that falls into the "miscellaneous" category could increase from $31 to $450, which equates to a rise of more than 1000pc.
It was also proposed the charge for a meat replacement health certificate would rise from $305 to $500 by 2009-10.
The move to full cost-recovery was yesterday called "crazy stuff" by Opposition agriculture spokesman John Cobb.
"Our exporters are struggling, the credit crunch has hit them hard and their margins are being slashed. To increase taxes and fees is the equivalent of committing economic suicide," Mr Cobb said.
"It is not me or the Coalition claiming this ridiculous new tax will destroy Australian jobs.
"Only this morning the Australian Horticultural Exporters Association wrote to me stating: 'The Australian Horticultural Exporters Association strongly believes that the proposed Government action to remove the 40pc subsidy for AQIS services will result in a further fall in horticultural exports which will lead to unemployment particularly in the rural regions.'"
However, Mr Burke claims The Nationals are criticising the Rudd Government for upholding the decision made by the Coalition when it was in power.
Mr Burke said it was hypocritical for the Nationals to now argue against its own decision to abolish an export subsidy.
Mr Burke claimed the Beale Review on Australia's biosecurity system subsequently supported the Coalition’s decision.
Mr Burke said he also sought additional advice when he received the Beale Report from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
"We will maintain the Coalition’s decision to allow that subsidy to lapse and will instead get more value for industry by investing in a better biosecurity system for Australia," he said.
It's a claim disputed by Mr Cobb, who said the Coalition "introduced the AQIS inspection service 60:40 cost sharing arrangements with exporters in 2001 and extended it again in 2005-06 for a further four years".
"In addition, provisions for a further four years had already been made under the provisional forward estimates," Mr Cobb said.
Mr Burke said, however, no decision had been made on the AQIS charges and consultation with industry was continuing.
"AQIS is trying to make the system fairer for everyone, because some sectors are paying a higher share of the costs involved in exporting meat, dairy and other produce," Mr Burke said.
"In the meat industry for example, everyone benefits from the export industry, from growers through to abattoirs, boning rooms, cold stores and finally the exporters themselves.
"But the costs of certifying meat for export are not evenly shared between all those sectors, under the current system.
"AQIS is talking to industry about adjusting these costs to make it fairer – and that includes proposing to increase some charges, abolish or reduce around 15 charges and streamline others to make the process more efficient."
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