This information release was issued with the annual report series, Trade and Assistance Review 2000-01, on 22 December 2001.

A report released by the Productivity Commission provides the latest estimates of Commonwealth assistance to industry. It shows that there has been a further slight reduction in assistance to manufacturing and agriculture, continuing the trend of the past decade. However, pockets of high assistance remain.

The report — Trade and Assistance Review 2000-01 — shows that most Australian industries now receive relatively low government assistance by historical standards. Effective rates of tariff assistance currently average just under 5 per cent for manufacturing (and remain negative for mining), while the effective rate of assistance for most agricultural industries is 2 per cent or less.

Budgetary assistance (tax concessions, grants etc) has risen slightly in recent years, however, amounting to $3.7 billion in 2000-01. This includes assistance to service industries, some of which also benefit from regulatory restrictions on trade.

The principal exceptions to the low prevailing rates of assistance remain textiles, clothing and footwear and the passenger motor vehicles industries, with effective rates of assistance several times higher than for the rest of manufacturing. The dairy industry also continues to receive relatively high levels of support under the Commonwealth adjustment package, totalling around $200 million in 2000-01.

The report also comments on the launch of a new round of multilateral trade negotiations at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha recently. Aspects of the forthcoming negotiations proffer benefits for Australia. However, the Commission cautions that the ambitious scope of the agenda, uncertainties surrounding some of the language in the declaration and the political considerations that can influence trade negotiations mean that the extent to which these gains are realised cannot readily be foreseen.