Agri-Food Export Barriers: A Comparative Analysis of Australia’s Meat, Horticulture, and Aquaculture Sectors

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the range of external export barriers that three Australian agri-food sectors, i.e., red meat, horticulture, and aquaculture, encounter, and to empirically measure and compare the perceived severity of these barriers by producers across the three sectors. A computer-assisted telephone interviewing survey was conducted to assess producers’ perception of individual export barriers. The results suggest that highly ranked export barriers for the three sectors are: high labor costs, market and financial risks, a lack of provenance information for competitiveness, and production risks. Some variations in the rated severity of barriers were observed across the three sectors and between producers who were currently exporting and those who were not, suggesting that non-exporters may consider the barriers different from exporters. While some barriers can be addressed through cross-sector planning, others require the development of sector specific strategies.