Welcome to the AHEA website..... The Australian Horticultural Exporters Association is an independant and autonomous association of Australian horticultural exporter organisations which represents the interests of its members to Government and Industry in the pursuit of improving the profitability and sustainability of the fresh horticultural  export industry.    Beware of Hidden Dangers when you Export in 2012!!! It costs as little as $10.00* a week to be kept informed about export market conditions! If you are an exporter,grower, packer or involved in Australian horticultural exports, then there's plenty of good reasons to join the Peak industry body that represents Australian Horticultural Exporters and keeps them informed. Become a member Today! –  It costs as little as $10.00 a week to join the A.H.E.A.! * new member offer ( plus GST ) Membership and Subscriber enquiries Become a Subscriber or Member . Click on the link for details Sponsorship and Advertising enquiries. Your organization could regularly reach our readers who are involved with , or interested in fruit and vegetable exporting. Click on the heading for more details or contact us at ahea@ahea.com.au

Aussie Dollar slips slightly after three month high!   The Aussie dollar has dropped slightly after overnight reaching its highest level in three months.  The AUD reached 106.86 US cents early this morning which is the highest since 31st October 2011 but has since tapered off.  Early this morning the AUD was trading at 106.21 US cents which is slightly down from Thursday afternoon's (Public Holiday) level of 106.36 US cents.  However, this figure was higher than Wednesday afternoon's level of 105.24 US cents prior to the Australia Day holiday.  The Aussie dollar pushed past the 106.0 US cents barrier early Thursday morning after the US Federal Reserve announced it would keep interest rates low until at least 2014.  It was thought the AUD could, in the next few weeks, reach 110.0 US cents but it was expected to drop  to as low as 104.50 US cents over the coming days but could climb higher next week.  For major cross rates go to..... Industry News pages. Last updated 27 Jan 2012

Indonesia to close Jakarta port to fresh fruit & vegetables Indonesia has announced that it will close the port for Jakarta Tanjung Priok to fresh fruit and vegetable imports from 14 March 2012, in a move that is seen to have a dramatic impact on the lucrative perishables trade in to Indonesia and its major city Jakarta.  AHEA 23 Jan 2012 Exporter's angry at scrapping of 10 year rebate agreement. Australia’s horticultural exporters are angry at the Govt's decision earlier this year to end a 10 year agreement to rebate 40% of the excessive AQIS fees and charges. The Gov't Budget has made no allowance to assist struggling exporters, facing a continuing high Australian dollar, to pay the excessive costs of export inspection and certification fees, for fresh produce exports which are charged out at currently A$272 per hour for field inspections. The Federal Government has moved to claw back more than the full cost of export inspection and to recover back room costs to help DAFF's burgeoning overhead costs for an inefficient Government service that remains costly and under resourced.  More in Industry News ...AHEA  Dec 2011 A mobile app and online resources for Horticulture DPI Victoria has launched the HIN Online Resource Library which is a free service for exporters, growers and anyone interested in accessing relevant information for horticulture including research literature, reports, videos, posters, presentations and images and the HIN Hort Service Finder is available to download free from iTunes App Store, see www.hin.com.au/Home  More in Industry News.  DFPIVic Nov 2011 AQIS costs for export inspection damaging export trade Australian fresh fruit and vegetable Exporters are paying two to three times more for quarantine export inspection as other Southern Hemisphere exporting countries such as Chile, New Zealand and South Africa.  The Federal Government’s well considered move to full cost recovery of AQIS inspection and certification charges is seen as out of step with our global competitors and it is hurting Australian exporting companies by increasing the cost of doing business at a time when we have an overvalued  currency, the highest labour rates and depressed global markets. Industry observers are bemused that an industry that is the biggest primary industry employer of more than 70,000 people across rural Australia cannot get a few million dollars worth of financial relief to help the industry continue to export. The Chairman of the Australian Horticultural Exporters Association, David Hunt-Sharman, says the high Australian Dollar, and bad weather conditions impacting the major growing regions, has cost the sector more than $200 million over the past two years. Full story Industry news......  D.Hunt-Sharman AHEA Chairman  Sept 2011 Exports vital for a sustainable Australian horticultural Industry Horticulture is the most labour intensive industry in Australian agriculture; it creates more jobs in regional Australia than any other agricultural sector. However it is also the industry facing the most pressure from imports , both fresh and processed. In 2010, total Australian horticultural imports including processed horticultural produce were valued at AUD $ 1,513 million. This compares to total exports of fresh and processed  horticultural produce of AUD $ 955 million in the same year  [ Source :ABS .]  So we have a trade deficit of AUD $ 558 million in fresh , dried , frozen ,partly and wholly processed fruit, vegetables and nuts. The average Australian would find this difficult to believe given the range of horticultural produce that can be grown across the full geographic spread of Australia . We normally don`t have shortfalls on the domestic market except in more recent times with bananas, due to the cyclones. Full story Industry News David Minnis  July 2011

Recent Importer Enquiries...       - New! enquiries from Nanning, China, Taiwan etc.            new updates in "Find an Importer"  enquiries.......... Industry  News....       - Latest Aussie $ against US $ and major cross rates       - AQIS charges  hurting exports          and more in "Industry News"...........  Market Access updates......       - New suspension of cherries & stonefruits to Thailand      -  New grape export conditions for China        and more in "Market Access" updates............  Freight & Logistics News......       - Maersk's Robbie Sangster retires          and more in Freight & Logistics news......................... A horticultural Quiz ! 1. What perennial vegetables can reproduce on their own for several growing seasons without the need for replanting? 2. What fruit has its seeds on the outside of the fruit? 3. Name the only fresh fruit or vegetable that is normally never sold frozen, canned or cooked? 4. What is the other name for a kiwifruit? 5. What is Brix when talking about fruit? For Answers......... go to Industry News pages Can't access all the news stories?........ Become a subscriber today!      ************************************************************

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