NFF cautious over FTA terms

NFF president Brent Finlay said trade discussions were central to the lobby group's tri-annual members' council meeting, held in Canberra last week, along with drought policy and infrastructure.

Mr Finlay said current negotiations on the Trans Pacific Partnership - which aims to enhance trade among the 12 member countries - appeared to be going nowhere.

He said the other 10 countries - including Australia - were "basically in a holding pattern" to see what evolved from unfolding negotiations between Japan and the US.

With Trade Minister Andrew Robb signalling an agreement with China could be concluded by the year's end, Mr Finlay said a favourable deal with the potentially lucrative trading partner would be "a real game changer for Australian agriculture".

Mr Finlay said if the Japan FTA wasn't a good deal for Australian agriculture as a whole, there "should be no deal at all".

"The tariff regime remains a significant point of conjecture within this agreement," he said.

"All sectors - wool, cotton, beef, pork, lamb, dairy, sugar, grains, horticulture and rice - must get improved market access."

Earlier this week, AgForce chief executive officer Charles Burke said some countries Australia was dealing with on FTAs had domestic tariffs in place to protect local agricultural industries, which prevented export opportunities.

But he said those tariff barriers should be "relaxed" in the government negotiations to assist with advancing Australian agricultural exports.

NFF said there was speculation an initial agreement would be struck when Mr Abbott meets his Japanese counterpart in Tokyo in April, with an agreement finalised later in the year, when Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, visits Australia.

"We urge Minister Robb and government officials to stand up on behalf of the Australian industry and not give in to a poor deal that could set a precedent and compromise our farm and agribusiness sectors," Mr Finlay said.

Shadow Agriculture Minister Joel Fitzgibbon highlighted reports of growing concerns among key rural Liberals Dan Tehan, Sharman Stone and Nola Marino that beef and dairy exports may suffer in the Japan FTA.

Labor's concern remains that Mr Abbott will accept a second-rate agreement for the sake of getting a deal for his political trophy cabinet rather than negotiating real benefits for Australian exporters.

Asked if beef was a sticking point in the Japan FTA discussions, Mr Joyce said "no" but his recent meeting with Japanese officials revealed there was "a sense of real engagement".

"The Japanese obviously want to finalise a trade agreement (and) we want to finalise a trade agreement," he said.

"I strongly believe there will be strong movement on beef and we also made our concerns apparent about dairy."

Meanwhile, Mr Robb said one of the hard decisions that must be resolved on the China FTA agreement was China's potential for investment in Australia.

He said China had invested about $93 billion during the past few years, largely in resources, but also in many other sectors.