The below op-ed by AUSVEG CEO Michael Coote was published in the Weekly Times on Wednesday 7 January 2026

AUSVEG CEO Michael Coote

The Federal Government’s snap decision to transition to a “new cost recovery arrangement” for export regulatory functions was the early Christmas gift Australian grower-exporters didn’t need.

Essentially it means fees and charges growers pay to the government for the checks and accreditations they need to export produce overseas are going up, and up, from mid-next year.

Despite promises of consultation in the new year, hopes this wasn’t a done deal were dashed when the measures were included in the government’s own, Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

These measures are expected to raise $53m over three years from 2026-27, and $34.3m ongoing, while saving $10.1m over three years, and $6.9m per year ongoing, according to MYEFO documents. It’s a disappointing development, not only because exporters will be hit with higher fees and charges.

AUSVEG, on behalf of the growers we represent, has engaged constructively with the Federal Government on export service cost recovery for more than a decade.

We have continued to emphasise that the fees growers are charged need to be reflected in improved service levels. This is particularly important when you consider the government is the monopoly provider for these regulatory services, with growers having no choice but to pay the prices the government sets if they want to send produce overseas.

This looming fee hike also comes with no commitment to a commensurate improvement in service levels. That needs to be a bare minimum if growers are paying more.

This also underscores a wider and more serious issue – one that speaks to the future viability of Australia’s vegetable industry.

The 2025 AUSVEG Industry Sentiment Report found two in five growers are considering leaving the industry, with the growing burden of regulation and compliance a key contributor. Our recent Horticulture Compliance and Regulation report also conservatively estimated the compliance burden already costs the vegetable industry $213m per year.

These hikes will be another cost for Australian vegetable growers to absorb at a time when the cost of growing fresh vegetables for markets at home and overseas is already at unsustainably high levels. For some it could prove the final straw.

Vegetable growers appreciate more than most the need to find efficiencies and savings in economically challenging times. But before hiking export fees and charges, the government should carefully consider the true cost to the nation, in terms of lost productivity, higher production costs, and growers leaving the industry.