Cheese became the unexpected focus of a 20-minute debate in Senate estimates on Wednesday, as agriculture officials made like a block of Swiss and poked holes in criticism of trade negotiations.Â
After nearly a decade of negotiations, Australia and the EU reached an agreement in March, with both sides slashing tariffs and expanding trade.
Domestic dairy producers retained the rights to describe their wares as parmesan under the deal, but other cheese names such as feta, romano and gruyere will eventually be phased out.
It was one win in the negotiations, the department's trade and regulation deputy secretary Tina Hutchison told the hearing.
"That was an important issue raised by the dairy industry over the course of the discussions," Ms Hutchison said.
But Nationals leader Senator Matt Canavan said the sector was concerned about the removal of a tariff on European cheese and expanding access to heavily subsidised imports.
Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences boss Jared Greenville suggested producers shouldn't be too cheesed off.
Subsidies for European dairy farmers were actually quite low, equivalent to $1.70 for every $100 in income, Dr Greenville said.
The trade agreement was also one instrument to improve transparency on market distortion, which can influence prices, he said.
"Australia's got a long-term position where we're trying to address trade and production distorting policies across the world to enable a freer market that helps more broadly, not just our own producers."
Red meat quotas dominated agricultural trade discussions, with industry slamming market access for an additional 30,600 tonnes of beef and 25,000 tonnes of sheep meat as a "bewildering" let down.
Global agricultural trade assistant secretary David Garner said negotiations with the EU were always tough and agriculture was particularly sensitive.
The composition of the quotas meant more fresh meat would enter the European market than frozen goods, Mr Garner said.
"(That) was a good outcome for the industry, given that fresh and chilled beef is of more value than frozen," he said.
After Senator Canavan questioned market access percentages across the entire trade deal, agriculture secretary Victoria Anderson referred him to the department of foreign affairs.
"Our goal is always to get the best outcome for agriculture, but as you know there's whole-of-economy agreements," Ms Anderson said.
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