The NSW Government plans to introduce a Bill to Parliament in May to develop new rice export marketing and trade arrangement for the Northern Rivers rice growing region.
The move is part of the State Government’s plan to bring new opportunities to the state’s agriculture sector, and to ensure regulations do not hinder industry growth.
To ensure export marketing continuity for Australia’s largest rice exporting region, the NSW Government also plans to keep existing rice vesting arrangements in place for that region with a review by 30 June 2029.
The changes will mean Northern Rivers growers will be able to organise their own arrangement for exporting rice and not have to go through the vesting arrangements that binds growers in southern NSW. This aims to cut red tape and costs so the emerging Northern Rivers region can be assisted in developing.
The NSW rice industry had an estimated farm gate value of $219 million in 2022-23. Currently, around 98 per cent of NSW rice production occurs within the three southern irrigation regions of the Murrumbidgee, Coleambally and Murray.
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The Bill will include a transitional start date of 1 September 2024 for the Northern Rivers arrangement, which will then occur after the 2024 Northern Rivers rice harvest.
These initiatives have been developed by the NSW Government after it was handed a report by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES), which recommends the statutory marketing board for rice exports and its sole and exclusive export licence arrangement be removed.
The NSW Government has decided not to accept that ABARES recommendation because it wants to support and assist the rice sector to grow sustainably.
Agriculture and Regional NSW Minister Tara Moriarty said the NSW Government is committed to creating new business opportunities for the state’s agricultural sector.
“We are taking action to do that for the rice industry by listening to their needs, cutting red tape and assisting growers expand their export potential,” Moriarty said.
“We are both recognising the needs and value of the established growers in the south and opening up opportunities for the emerging sector in the Northern Rivers.
“I want to acknowledge the valuable contributions made by stakeholder organisations and rice growers over the last year, who outlined what they thought was working, what wasn’t and how the Government could renew their export potential.”