The head of Australian packaging and recycling company Visy, Anthony Pratt, believes Australia’s manufacturing industry has a strong future. The Australian newspaper reports that Mr Pratt made the comments while opening the new Visy Group $86 million Stapylton beverage can manufacturing facility on the Gold Coast on Thursday 28 March. The facility will be Australia’s first new can plant in more than twenty years. The new factory was “further proof that competitive manufacturing can have a bright... ...Read more »

The Australian Federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) is working towards permitting importation of fresh decrowned pineapples from Malaysia. The move is likely to mean that Australian supermarkets will be able to source fresh pineapples directly from Malaysia, adding significant market pressures on Queensland growers. Growcom, the peak Queensland-based industry body, in a December 2011 submission to DAFF, had rejected the DAFF’s risk assessment of Malaysian fresh decrowned... ...Read more »

A Free Trade Agreement, signed in Kuala Lumpur yesterday (22 May 2012) by Trade and Competitiveness Minister Craig Emerson and his Malaysian counterpart Mustapa Mohamed, will aim to improve trading conditions for Australian farmers and processed food producers. The Free Trade Agreement will guarantee tariff-free entry for 97.6 per cent of recent goods imports by Malaysia from Australia once it enters into force, further integrating the Australian economy with the fast-growing Asian region. This... ...Read more »

Australian companies are buying more certified sustainable palm oil than ever before, according to an assessment of palm oil buyers by multi-national conservation group, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The WWF today released its Palm Oil Buyers’ Scorecard 2011, which measures over 130 major retailers and consumer goods manufacturers by looking at their commitment to, and use of, palm oil certified to the internationally recognised standards of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. Palm oil is... ...Read more »

Biosecurity Australia, the Australian Government body in charge of developing biosecurity policy, has proposed that the importation of fresh de-crowned pineapples to Australia from Malaysia be permitted, subject to a range of quarantine conditions. Biosecurity Australia has issued a draft report for a consultation lasting 60 days. The draft report identifies four pests that Biosecurity Australia says require quarantine measures in order to achieve Australia’s appropriate level of protection. According... ...Read more »

Palm oil Bill unworkable and will cost industryA palm oil Bill – which compromises the nation’s food and grocery labelling system – is unworkable in its current form and must be referred to a House of Representatives Committee for further discussion and examination, the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) urged today. The Australian Food and Grocery Council today called the recent Palm Oil labelling bill, passed in the Senate with amendments last week, “unworkable”,... ...Read more »

The Senate has passed an amendment to the Food Act requiring that products containing palm oil be explicitly labelled, rather than described as ‘vegetable oil’. The bill was passed by Coalition votes, and driven by Greens senator Rachael Siewert and Independent senator Nick Xenophon, both of whom have been vocal in their campaigns on the subject of palm oil. Most of the world’s supply of palm oil, an extremely common ingredient in foods and food additives, is produced in Malaysia... ...Read more »

Carrefour has reportedly cancelled plans to sell its operations in Malaysia and Singapore.The retailer now plans to retain its 42 stores in Malaysia and two outlets in Singapore, according to reports in the Wall Street Journal. The French retail giant said it had decided to retain its presence in Malaysia and Singapore, after the planned auction did not attract bids that would have justified proceeding. “We have some very encouraging growth prospects in Malaysia. “We can create much more... ...Read more »

Chocolate giant Barry Callebaut has announced a plan to improve the quality of Malaysian cocoa and chocolate, in collaboration with the Malaysia Cocoa Board. “Due to current growth limitations in cocoa supply from Ivory Coast – the world’s largest cocoa producing country – and our growing demand for cocoa, we have a strategic need to diversify our cocoa origins. Malaysia and neighboring countries currently produce about 15% of the annual global cocoa harvest and are logical sourcing alternatives... ...Read more »

The Victorian Government has earmarked Singapore and Malaysia as key centres for Australian export opportunities in the coming decade. Tim Dillon, the Victorian Government’s Trade Commissioner for South East Asia, said that new trade opportunities will begin to emerge in these regions as both Singapore and Malaysia invest heavily in industry development initiatives and local business. The recent signing of the ASEAN free trade agreement with Australia will also open up new opportunities between... ...Read more »