China: Country of origin needs to be an important focus

The Australian Made Campaign has welcomed the Government’s moves to expand Australia’s access to the burgeoning Chinese market.

“A China-Australia Free Trade Agreement makes real sense when you look at the scale of the Chinese market and its growth trajectory,” said Ian Harrison, Chief Executive of the not-for-profit Australian Made Campaign.

“While some industries will gain more and some will always miss out in any of these types of deals, manufacturers of premium quality Australian products, and of course our food producers, should enjoy significant benefits, just as our resource industries have in recent years.”

The Australian Made Campaign is encouraging current and prospective exporters to China to aggressively leverage country-of-origin branding in their marketing and sales strategies.

“Australia has a great reputation as a supplier of high quality, healthy, safe products and produce. This can often lead to a premium price in the marketplace for genuine Aussie products, and that is why country-of-origin branding is so important,” Mr Harrison said.

“The Australian Made, Australian Grown logo has been helping sell Aussie products in export markets for nearly three decades, particularly Asian markets. Furthermore, it is a registered certification trade mark in China, and this gives vital protection, under Chinese law, for goods authorised to carry the symbol.”

The Australian Made Campaign recently licensed ‘Australia Made Shop Pty Ltd’ to use the green-and-gold kangaroo as branding for a chain of stores across China that sell only genuine Aussie products, all of which must be certified to carry the Australian Made, Australian Grown (AMAG) logo.

“This initiative will provide a significant channel to the Chinese market for many Australian manufacturers and producers, building on the benefits of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement,” Mr Harrison said.