Albanese Labor Government delivering more opportunities for farmers and producers in a new UAE free trade agreement

Australian producers and exporters of agriculture, fisheries and forestry products will benefit from greater market access and opportunities with the new free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) entering into force on 1 October 2025, following the Prime Minister’s visit to the UAE this week. 

The Australia-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) will eliminate tariffs on more than 99 per cent of Australia’s exports, including key agricultural products such as red meat, dairy, grains and oilseeds, pulses, horticulture and honey, and will also reduce tariffs on wine.

The Albanese Labor Government has worked tirelessly to expand opportunities for our farmers and producers to export our world-class products on the international stage which CEPA builds on. 

Most tariffs on agricultural products sent to the UAE will be eliminated immediately, including on dairy, red meat, and grains and oilseed, while tariffs on a limited number of goods such as poultry, bread and pastry will be phased out over the next 3 to 5 years. 

In the 2024-25 financial year, Australian agriculture, fisheries and forestry exports to the UAE were valued at $1.7 billion, making the UAE our 12th largest agriculture export market.

CEPA will generate an estimated annual tariff saving of $50 million a year for Australian agriculture and food exports. 

CEPA is the first free trade agreement Australia has made with a country in the Middle East.   

The UAE is a significant trading and transhipment hub, and the agreement will provide Australian agriculture greater market access and diversification opportunities to the larger Middle East region. 

The agreement contains Australia’s first standalone chapter on sustainable agriculture and food systems, recognising agriculture’s essential role in ensuring food security, driving climate resilience, emissions reductions and other environmental outcomes. 

Quotes attributable to Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Julie Collins MP: 

“This deal will deliver for Australian farmers and producers, giving them unprecedented access and preferential treatment when they do business with the UAE. 

“This agreement will see Australian agriculture and food exporters save $50 million in tariffs a year and is a great demonstration of how we benefit from free and fair trade. 

“With the UAE being a vital regional trading hub, CEPA opens up significant market access and diversification opportunities for exports throughout the Middle East and beyond. 

“CEPA is another example of the Albanese Labor Government delivering more opportunities for our world class agriculture exports.  

“Since coming into government, we have recorded 231 market access achievements, opening 29 new markets, protecting 81 markets in the face of trade threats, restoring 17 markets where trade was lost, and making 104 improvements to existing markets.”