Deferral of export cost recovery welcomed by forestry sector

Deferral of export cost recovery welcomed by forestry sector

Thursday 2 Apr 2026

AFPA has welcomed the Federal Government’s decision today to defer the phased transition to full cost recovery for export regulatory services for one year until 1 July 2027. The Government has delayed the phased transition, which was due to begin from 1 July 2026, in the wake of global uncertainty and rising costs, including soaring fuel prices.

AFPA Chief Executive Officer Diana Hallam said: “In these challenging and uncertain times, we sincerely thank the Government for delaying the export regulatory functions, which will help to ease growing pressures on Australia’s forest products sector.

“We acknowledge this will provide some relief over the next year to an industry faced with significant ongoing challenges, including rising input costs, surging timber imports, a cut in tariffs from our major competitors in the European Union, a stagnant housing market and the impact of the Commonwealth’s recent EPBC Act reforms.

“This industry operates in globally competitive commodity and value-added markets, so any form of short-term relief is appreciated and will provide immediate benefits for our sector."

This will also mean in 12 months time, industry will face a faster two-year implementation period, instead of three, which will still see more than a doubling of export costs for many companies. which will, along with all the other factors, potentially impact their future viability.

There are significant and ongoing increases in costs that the government is seeking to recover and it will be critical that the government develops a lean, efficient, transparent and stable regulatory system for exporters, including the timber industry, to remain competitive.

“In our submission to the Government on draft export Cost Recovery Implementation Statements (CRIS), we highlighted that cost recovery is an established policy framework and industry is required to contribute. However, we believe these changes could significantly impact our export market, along with other agricultural commodities, and affect Australia’s balance of trade and the national economy," said Diana Hallam.

The complexity and scale of the proposed changes mean that industry should have the opportunity to co-design the implementation of a model to report true costs transparently.

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Source: APFA

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