China’s stranglehold over PNG and South Pacific trade a crisis for Australia

Sadly one reason why our tight biosecurity controls have not been challenged is that the Australia seafood import sector is not really interested in PNG seafood which will be more expensive that what we import from Asia – but surely of a higher quality!

It may well be the Australian importers will need economic incentives to import seafood from PNG, and the Solomons, Fiji and Vanuatu, but it is surely in our national interest to slow, if not stop, the exploitation of our neighbourhoods vast maritime resources?

And while we neglect this sector, China in June last year signed a seafood export agreement with Papua New Guinea. At the time the PRC Ambassador forecast that exports from Papua New Guinea to China would increase dramatically.

If we lift imports from almost zero to a sustainable level we need to directly help our neighbours with value-adding onshore processing that boosts local economies and wins us friends where we really need it.

The second industry sector we need to help Papua New Guinea and other neighbours their production of coffee, tea and vanilla beans.

Sadly the importing of these essential commodities (essential for local communities across PNG in particular) has dropped from $60 million a year in 2010 to just $20 million in 2020.

I suspect that one reason for the massive decline is a decline in real engagement by our trade authorities with PNG exporters.

In the meantime, China has wasted no time is taking up where we have faltered. In October 2019, Papua New Guinea joined the China International Coffee Alliance which essentially promotes China's engagement with member countries to boost exports to China.

When PNG joined the alliance, Chinese officials promised to take much more of PNG's coffee and cocoa production in the future. The official pointed out that coffee consumption in China is rising by about 20 per cent a year.

Again time is therefore not on our side. There is no reason why Covid-19 restrictions should prevent significant marketing for PNG coffee and cocoa in Australia from being undertaken in Australia, where coffee consumption is also increasing.

I can assure readers that PNG coffee is of the highest quality. It is just increasingly difficult to buy it here.

These are just two areas where we can strengthen our trade links with our nearest neighbour in particular.

If we don't do so urgently and comprehensively then China's dominance of agricultural exports from the region will be absolutely entrenched.

And when that occurs the chance of lessening the region's economic dependence on China will be just about zero.

The exports to China stranglehold is potentially more consequential than debt trap diplomacy which I and others have written extensively about!