Doing Business With Australia - Beginners Guide
By Bob Smiths

Australian markets have long attracted companies from around the world with their professional and straightforward business culture. English speaking countries like the USA and UK are all the more tempted to expand into the Australian market as one major barrier to international expansion- foreign language, is non-existent.

While doing business with any country involves imports and exports in the form of products and services, most exporters keep in mind the population strength of a country and its buying power while selecting it as a potential market. Though the Australian market has a small population in terms of numbers, it must not be forgotten that the country is the world's fifteenth largest economy and a majority of its population has high buying power.

With Australia's relaxed tariffs and minimum barriers to entry, exporters around the world are encouraged to diversify their customer base and easily enter the Australian market. Australia encourages companies around the world to enter its markets and this is proved by its membership to various International Trade Groups. While the Closer Economic Relations (CER) between Australia and New Zealand almost eliminates duties on New Zealand produced or manufactured goods, the Canada and Australia Trade Agreement (CANTRA) offers the same benefit to Canada.

However, like every country, Australia also has import controls on certain goods like drugs, food, plants, firearms, protected cultural heritage items and motor vehicles among others. Exporters must also keep in mind that while it encourages imports, Australia is also very protective of its local industry and does not entertain dumping or other unfair trade practices carried out by international sellers and takes prompt remedial action on recognizing the adverse affects of the same on its domestic industries.

Trading and importing goods and services from Australia is a smooth process which is again relatively more convenient for English speaking countries since the country's Commerce (Trade Descriptions Act) 1905 stresses upon trade descriptions on exported goods to be made in English. In its efforts to promote exports, Australia exempts consignments with an FOB value of not more than $2000 (AUD) from export entry. Though there is usually no duty payable on exports, classification of goods under the Australian Harmonized Export Commodity Classification (AHECC) is still a necessity.

Importing from Australia also has certain prohibitions. Buyers cannot import certain goods like specific minerals, fruits, animals and marine life that are prohibited by Australian law. Additionally, items like dry ice and dangerous goods which come under the list specified by International Air Transportation Association (IATA) cannot be imported via FedEx Express International Priority (FXIP) Services.