Tasmanian infrastructure minister Rene Hidding has urged his state’s exporters to take advantage of the expanded Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme (TFES), which has just come into effect.
Up until this year Tasmanian businesses could only receive assistance under the TFES if the goods were for consumption on the Australian mainland or if they underwent some value-adding on the mainland before being exported overseas.
The scheme is now being expanded to include direct international exports.
“For the first time, eligible Tasmanian goods exported to an international destination via an Australian port will receive assistance of $700 for each twenty foot-equivalent unit (TEU, or standard size shipping container),” Hidding said.
The newly-expanded TFES is expected to help the apple isle’s exporters by growing the current scheme’s coverage by $50m a year, based on Commonwealth figures.
Hidding described the expanded scheme as “a real game-changer” for exporters.
“Goods shipped from King Island or the Furneaux Group of islands will be eligible for a further 15% loading, taking their assistance to $805 per TEU,” he added.
“I encourage all Tasmanian exporters to seek advice on their eligibility to claim assistance under the expanded scheme.
“The Hodgman Government lobbied hard for this expansion and the Federal Government acknowledged the merit of our argument with this historic extension of the scheme.
“I expect that Tasmanian businesses will have investigated the benefits of the new Scheme, and our export sector growth will accelerate as new international markets are identified and volumes grow.”
This article was originally published by Rail Express affiliate Lloyd’s List Australia.