Posts in category: Updates

At the beginning of the year, Stuart flew to Canberra to meet with Minister Dan Tehan’s Senior Trade Advisor, in his role as Deputy Chair of the Export Consultants Association, which represents close to 3,000 exporters Australia wide.

Following the meeting, Stuart wrote to the Minister directly, urging him to provide immediate answers to the unknowns regarding the new EMDG. 

We have now received a response to that letter and we share it with you here:

Trade Minister response to our letter 19032021

We appreciate and thank the Minister for his response, and will continue to ask questions and lobby on behalf of our champion exporters!

This month we continue to channel the likes of Doris Day, Donald Rumsfeld, former US Defence Secretary, and Bruce Springsteen, “The Boss”.

What do these three unlikely characters have in common, and what’s it got to do with Export Market Development Grants, you ask?

Trust us, they are all relevant to EMDG…so read our Mitchell&Co EMDG March 2021 Newsletter to find out more!

Image credit: Defense.gov News Photo – Rumsfeld during a Pentagon News Briefing in February 2002.

We continue to lobby as the  voice for our exporters, and to find the answers to the “known unknowns” in regards to the imminent future of the Export Market Development Grants (EMDG) scheme.

With that promise, Stuart recently flew to Canberra to meet with Minister Tehan’s Senior Trade Advisor, in his role as Deputy Chair of the Export Consultants Association, which represents close to 3,000 exporters Australia wide.

Following the meeting, Stuart wrote to the Minister directly, urging him to provide immediate answers to the unknowns regarding the new EMDG scheme. 

You can read the full submission letter here: Mitco -Trade Minister Letter19032021.

As always, we wish you the best in your export endeavours during these unknown and challenging times.

Image credit: qt.com.au (Queensland Times)

The gate is almost shut on 2020 EMDG applications, that is for the period ended 30 June, 2020. 

The old rules apply, no export earnings required and a guaranteed grant entitlement up to $100,000. 

These applications MUST be prepared, finalised, and lodged by March 2nd. No ifs, no buts, no extension- the excuse my dog ate my homework will just not work.

We discussed the old rules versus new rules in our recent client Newsletter, and one famous line came to mind…hence the face of Doris Day!

“Que Sera, Sera!

Whatever will be, will be…”

Read on via our Newsletter link here to find out more!

Image credit: discogs.com/Doris-Day-Whatever-Will-Be-Will-Be-Que-Sera-Sera/release/1168631

The Ministerial Determinations behind the new EMDG legislation have been passed. The new rules were tabled late December and open for comment, and comment we did.

The actual Administrative Guidelines, i.e. how to lodge, and when to lodge by, are yet to be released.

We discussed our thoughts of this much awaited beast in our December 2020 Newsletter.

Click here to read our December Newsletter.

We have made our thought processes very clear to Austrade Deputy CEO, Kelly Ralston, in our subsequent Submission to the proposed EMDG rules.

Read all about them here.

If you haven’t yet lodged your 2020 EMDG application, the time to call is now.

We look forward to hearing from you.

A quick update from us as we head into a new month of EMDG processing, and prophecies on what might be to come in regards to the EMDG Review.

We will have a new Trade Minister before the calendar year is out, and so the rush is on to get the legislation passed before Minister Birmingham departs office.

The new Ministerial Determinations behind the legislation are expected to be out towards the end of this month. Like a farmer awaiting rain, we at Mitco have a lot to ponder upon as we await their release.

If you have not yet lodged your 2020 EMDG application, please call us for a chat. The time to take action is now.

Click here to read our November Newsletter to find out more. 

EMDG Review Report Unpacked.

“It will have blood, they say: blood will have blood.”

“Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.” – 1606 William Shakespeare – The Tragedy of Macbeth.

What’s that got to do with Export Market Development Grants (EMDG) you ask?

Well it’s about prewarning of things that are coming to pass, maybe troubled times ahead.

Not “lead on Macduff” (yes, a misquote known to scholars of the Bard out there) – but “read on exporter”.

Click here to read our newsletter as we unpack and analyse the EMDG changes to kick in from July 1, 2021.

Picture Credit: Shakespeare Portrait GETTY

D-Day has arrived. The Referee has tossed the coin and the future of EMDG in the air.

Yesterday we got the call from Minister Birmingham’s office announcing the completion of the long awaited EMDG Review Report.

Trade Minister Birmingham has today released the report of Anna Fisher which was commissioned last year and completed pre-COVID 19.

The government will be adopting all proposed changes recommended in the report.

We put out an initial Newsletter to our Client base announcing that EMDG will fundamentally change, and some of our initial thoughts on the Review.

Click here to read our initial newsletter, with more details to come as we unpack, analyse, and summarise the 84-page report over these next days and weeks.

Click here to read the official Media Release from Minister Birmingham’s office.

And the following links to Austrade FAQs and Reform Fact Sheet.

We love a good Exporter success story, especially during these challenging times!

We recently spotted our Clients Julie and Paul Kos in the ABC News.

They run The Smoked Egg Company from their farm (of some 5,000 laying hens!) near Geelong and do exactly that – smoked fresh eggs.

From experimenting with a smoker bought for their wedding anniversary, years later they’ve managed to create a world-first product praised by Chefs of top restaurants around Australia.

Julie and Paul have travelled to Dubai and Japan, attending trade events to promote their product. The Company also holds the World Patent for the advanced smoking technique that stops the ageing process and bacteria growth in eggs. 

The EMDG assistance has helped the business to continue developing and growing these export markets and we wish them all the best in their ongoing efforts.

Now we think that’s a smoking good success story!

To read the full article via the ABC website, click the link below:

Victorian farmers create world’s first cold-smoked egg