What is currently being said about when distributors importing from Europe will see tariff relief?

Written By Belinda Prestwidge

All of you no doubt saw the good news story recently… that European Union Free Trade Agreement (EU FTA) has been negotiated – after only 8 years of liaisons I think it is… Australian Government concludes negotiations on landmark Australia-EU FTA | News and updates

As well as being great for many Australian exports, this of course is great news for optical suppliers importing frames from Europe as far as the removal of current tariffs.

I wanted to provide here for you the information I have managed to learn about the timing of when you can all see some tariff relief and some of the resources I have referred to so you can keep across the matter.

Now I hardly dare to say it, but until we see the final agreement we will not know all the details for sure and be able to confirm that this will totally supersede the specific regulations that imposed the tariff charges for optical specific imports. The devil is in the detail with these matters. For instance we will need to see full definitions of legal terms used such as ‘EU Origin’ however I want to assure you that ODMA will raise questions with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) as needed. If required, ODMA will engage the necessary resources when the time comes to provide advice to confirm that what we expect to be covered is, or if there are any concerns, to help us prepare any documentation to raise that through political channels.

HOWEVER, currently all looks like the optical industry should be fine given the following information currently available and the fact that optical is mentioned specifically  –

Firstly the Austrade website is a useful resource for you - www.austrade.gov.au. This currently states that “On full implementation, all tariffs on Australia’s advanced manufacturing and other industrial goods (except steel) will be eliminated, including:…..optical and photographic or cinematographic products…..Information states that tariffs will be eliminated on all goods except steel, so we are thus expecting this EU FTA to eliminate the duty being paid on spectacle frames and sunglasses.

The European Commission website however does state that there are only a few industries that will benefit straight up – see The EU-Australia trade agreement - European Commission which states - “EU exporters of machinery, motor vehicles and chemicals gain the most immediate benefit. Tariffs on these goods…are eliminated from day one of the agreement.”      

So, for advanced manufacturing, the tariffs will be eliminated on full implementation of the FTA.

When will that likely be? I hear you all ask….well this is the current information and in summary – it could be around 2 years before the relief comes.

  • First the process  involves processes like legal checks, translation, European Council  approval, and Australia will have their own processes required for signature

  • Then parliamentary  scrutiny and legal processes and required changes to Australian  legislation to implement the deal are stated to be expected to take up to  another year.

I hope this information helps you in your planning and these resources above will assist you as well as this:

Should you have any specific questions that you feel ODMA can assist with then let us know.
This good news is I know well overdue for you all.

Kind Regards,

Amanda Trotman
CEO
The Optical Distributors and Manufacturers Association of Australia

Belinda Prestwidge
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