Agricultural Trade Liberalisation and Food Security

While trade liberalisation alone cannot solve food insecurity, the root cause of which is poverty, it offers the best opportunity to achieve long-term food security.

Australia is pursuing agricultural trade liberalisation through the World Trade Organisation and other multilateral, regional and bilateral forums. This includes efforts to remove impediments to international agricultural food trade that reduce access to food imports.

Australia's focus is on helping developing countries to improve their trade policy skills, enhance tariff, taxation, customs and quarantine regimes, and strengthen trade and tourism promotion. This is vital to ensuring that developing countries can benefit from the new global trading environment.

Australian trade-related support to developing countries extends beyond direct technical assistance. Since 1 July 2003 Australia has provided tariff and quota-free access for all goods produced in the Least Developed Countries.