G/STR/N/14/AUS/Rev.1  
 
20 March 2013  
(13-1528)  Page: 1/7  
Working Party on State Trading Enterprises  Original: English  
 
 STATE TRADING 
 
NEW AND FULL NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE XVII:4(A) OF THE  
GATT 1994 AND PARAGRAPH 1 OF THE UNDERSTANDING ON  
THE INTERPRETATION OF ARTICLE XVII 
AUSTRALIA  
Revision 
 
The following communication, dated 18 March 2013, is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of Australia. 
 
_______________ 
 
 
Pursuant to Article XVII:4(a) of the GATT 1994 and paragraph 1 of the Understanding on the 
Interpretation of Article XVII of the General Agre ement on Tariffs and Trade, Australia makes the 
following new and full interim notification of it s state trading enterprise for the years 2009/2010 
and 2010/11.  G/STR/N/14/AUS/Rev.1 
 
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  I. ENUMERATION OF STATE TRADING ENTERPRISES 
A. IDENTIFICATION OF STATE TRADING ENTERPRISES  
 The Rice Marketing Board for the State of New South Wales.  
 
B. DESCRIPTION OF PRODUCTS AFFECTED  (INCLUDING TARIFF ITEM NUMBER(S) 
ENCOMPASSED IN PRODUCT DESCRIPTION) 
Rice grown in the State of New South Wales [HS 1006]. 
 
II. REASON AND PURPOSE 
A. REASON OR PURPOSE FOR ESTABLISHING AND/OR MAINTAINING STATE TRADING 
ENTERPRISE 
 The objects of the Rice Marketing Board for the State of New South Wales include: 
 
 to encourage the development of a competitive domestic market for rice.  
 to ensure the best possible returns from NSW grown rice sold outside Australia based 
on the quality differentials or attributes of Australian grown rice. 
 
B. SUMMARY OF LEGAL BASIS FOR GRANTING THE RELEVANT EXCLUSIVE OR SPECIAL RIGHTS 
OR PRIVILEGES, INCLUDING LEGAL PROVIS IONS AND SUMMARY OF STATUTORY OR 
CONSTITUTIONAL POWERS 
The legal basis for the rice marketing board (the Board) for the State of New South Wales is 
provided by the State of New South Wales Rice Marketing Act 1983 .  Effectively, all rice 
produced in NSW and not sold on the domestic market is vested in the Board. A single export license has been issued by the board to Ricegrowers limited (trading as SunRice). 
 
III. DESCRIPTION OF THE FUNCTIONING OF THE STATE TRADING ENTERPRISE 
A. SUMMARY STATEMENT PROVIDING OVERVIEW OF OPERATIONS OF THE STATE TRADING 
ENTERPRISE 
All rice grown in the State of New South Wales is divested from producers and becomes the 
property of the Rice Marketing Board for the State of New South Wales under a vesting proclamation. However, the Board has given exemption from vesting if the rice is sold on the 
domestic market to an Authorised Buyer. Auth orised Buyers are appointed by the Board and 
all applicants are eligible to become Authorised Buyers, subject only to the Board's discretion to refuse an application where it ha s reason to believe that the applicant will 
breach the conditions of appointment, which primarily relate to not exporting the rice.  
 
The Rice Marketing Board for the State of New South Wales does not negotiate contracts for 
the sale of rice. All rice trading is conducted on behalf of the Rice Marketing Board for the 
State of New South Wales by Authorised Buyers. Authorised Buyers are able to freely buy and sell rice grown in New South Wales on the domestic market in Australia.  All sales contracts are entered into on a commercial basis. 
 
The Rice Marketing Board for the State of New South Wales has appointed Ricegrowers Limited (trading as SunRice) as its sole exporter.  As part of its obligations under this 
agreement SunRice is obliged to act as a buyer of last resort if other Authorised Buyers do 
not purchase the rice.  SunRice has no obligation to set a benchmark price and has not done so. Ricegrowers Limited, which is a public company, is also an Authorised Buyer.   
 
It is the Board's responsibility to ensure that these arrangements generate the maximum monetary returns on behalf of all New South Wales rice growers.   
 G/STR/N/14/AUS/Rev.1 
 
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  B. SPECIFICATION OF EXCLUS IVE OR SPECIAL RIGHTS OR PRIVILEGES ENJOYED BY THE 
STATE TRADING ENTERPRISE 
The State of New South Wales Rice Marketing Act 1983  entitles the Rice Marketing Board for 
the State of New South Wales to award an Au thorised Buyer with th e exclusive, or non-
exclusive, right to export rice grown in the State of New South Wales  
 C. TYPE OF ENTITIES OTHER THAN THE STATE TRADING ENTERPRISE THAT ARE ALLOWED TO 
ENGAGE IN IMPORTATION/EXPORTATION AND CONDITIONS FOR PARTICIPATION 
Rice can be imported into Australia by any entity.   
 
Ricegrowers Limited (trading as SunRice) is the sole exporter of rice grown in New South 
Wales.  The Board does not have special or exclusive privileges to import rice.   
 
There are no statutory restrictions on the export of rice grown in other Australian states.   
 
D. HOW IMPORT/EXPORT LEVELS ARE ESTABLISHED BY THE STATE TRADING ENTERPRISE 
Australian rice import and export levels are determined by market forces on a commercial 
basis.  There are no tariffs or quantitative re strictions applied on the import of rice (HS 
1006) into Australia.  The Rice Marketing Boar d for the State of New South Wales has no 
role in regulating imports of rice into Australia.   
 
E. HOW EXPORT PRICES ARE DETERMINED 
Export prices are determined by the market fo r Australian rice at levels influenced by the 
quality of the rice and prevailing world prices. 
 
F. HOW THE RESALE PRICES OF IMPO RTED PRODUCTS ARE DETERMINED 
Not applicable.  The arrangements for rice grown in New South Wales do not cover imports. 
 
G. WHETHER LONG-TERM CONTRACTS ARE NEGOTIATED BY THE STATE TRADING 
ENTERPRISE.  WHETHER THE STATE TRADIN G ENTERPRISE IS USED TO FULFIL 
CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS ENTERED INTO BY THE GOVERNMENT 
All sales contracts are entered into on a commercial basis.  The Rice Marketing Board for the 
State of New South Wales was not used to fulfil contractual obligations entered into by the government nor did the government enter into any obligations on behalf of the Rice 
Marketing Board for the State of New South Wales. 
 H. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF MARKET STRUCTURE 
The Australian market is open to competition from imports and significant quantities of rice 
are imported.  There are no tariffs or quantitati ve restrictions applied on the import of rice 
(HS 1006) into Australia. 
 
About 99 per cent of total rice grown in Australia is grown in the State of New South Wales.   
 
Effective from 1 July 2006, the domestic marketing arrangements for rice grown in New 
South Wales were deregulated and a system of multiple authorised buyer permits for sales 
within Australia was introduced.  Entities wanting to participate in the domestic market for rice grown in New South Wales must apply to the Rice Marketing Board for the State of New 
South Wales to become an Authorised Buyer. 
 
Authorised Buyers are able to buy and sell rice grown in New South Wales on the domestic market in Australia. 
 G/STR/N/14/AUS/Rev.1 
 
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  IV. STATISTICAL INFORMATION (S EE ATTACHED TABLES I - III) 
The data contained in the attached tables is not available on a consistent basis and figures 
in different columns are generally not comparable .  In particular, no adjustments have been 
made for factors such as quality, transport te rms, and different time periods (e.g. marketing 
year versus fiscal year).  Differing sources have had to be used, also resulting in non-
comparability.  In addition, much of the data is not collected or is otherwise not available. 
 
 Key to notes: 
  NA Not available.  N/A Not applicable. 
 
V. REASON WHY NO FOREIGN TRADE HAS TAKEN PLACE (AS APPROPRIATE) 
Not applicable. The Australian market is open to competition from imports and significant 
quantities of rice are imported.  There are no tariffs or quantitative restrictions applied on 
the import of rice (HS 1006) into Australia. 
 
VI ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (AS APPROPRIATE)  
Under the Under the Rice Marketing Act 1983, the New South Wales Minister for Primary 
Industries was required to review the Act to determine whether its policy objectives remain valid and whether the terms of the Act remain appropriate for securing those objectives. The 
review report was tabled in each house of the New South Wales Parliament on 7 September 
2011 (searchable at http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/ ). 
 
  
  G/STR/N/14/AUS/Rev.1  
 
- 5 - TABLE I 
STATISTICAL INFORMATION, IMPORTS 
 
 
Description of product(s) 
(including HS number(s)) Unit Year Total 
quantity 
imported Quantity 
imported by 
state trading 
enterprise Average 
import 
price Average 
representative 
domestic sales price Mark-up National 
production 
1   2 3 4 5 6 7 
Rice (HS 1006) '000 
tonnes 2009/2010 
2010/2011 2021 
179 Nil 
Nil A$1080/t 
A$976/t NA 
NA NA 
NA 1972 
726 
 
 
 
                                               
1 The New South Wales Department of Trade and In vestment, Regional Infra structure and Services. 
2 The New South Wales Department of Trade and In vestment, Regional Infra structure and Services.  
  G/STR/N/14/AUS/Rev.1  
 
- 6 - TABLE II 
STATISTICAL INFORMATION, EXPORTS 
 
 
Description of product(s) 
(including HS number(s)) Unit Year Total 
quantity 
exported Quantity 
exported by 
state trading 
enterprises Average 
procurement 
price Average 
representative 
domestic sales 
price Average 
export 
price National 
production 
1   2 3 4 5 6 7 
Rice (HS 1006) '000 
tonnes 2009/2010 
2010/2011 191 
132 NA 
NA NA 
NA NA 
NA A$1558/t 
A$943/t 
 197 
726 
 
 
                                               
1 The New South Wales Department of Trade and In vestment, Regional Infra structure and Services.   
  G/STR/N/14/AUS/Rev.1  
 
- 7 - TABLE III 
STATISTICAL INFORMATION, DOMESTIC ACTIVITIES 
 
 
Description of product(s) 
(including HS number(s)) Unit Year Domestic 
purchases by state 
trading enterprise National 
production Domestic sales by 
state trading 
enterprise National 
consumption 
1   2 3 4 5 
Rice (HS 1006) '000 tonnes 2009/2010 
2010/2011 NA 
NA 197 
726 N/A 
N/A 2011 
204 
 
 
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1 Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES).