The free trade agreement (FTA) to be signed by Australia and China is expected to provide the former's dairy farmers tariff-free access to the latter's infant formula market over the next four years.
Australian Government sources were quoted by ABC as saying that China will exempt Australia's dairy products from the protective safeguards that are currently applicable to imports from New Zealand.
The safeguards are expected to be applied only on whole milk powder.
Australian dairy farmers anticipate the FTA to tackle plunging dairy prices.
The proposed deal will provide markets worth billions of dollars to Australian farm exporters and the services sector while easing restrictions on Chinese investments.
Australia Prime Minister Tony Abbott said: "This is better for Australian agriculture.
"It's at least as good for our agriculture as New Zealand got about six or seven years ago - and their dairy exports to China have gone up from under half a billion to over three billion."
Apart from the dairy farmers, Australian wine and beef producers will also benefit from the FTA, which has been under negotiations for the past ten years.
Image: Australian dairy farmers anticipate that the FTA would tackle plunging dairy prices. Photo: courtesy of Naypong / FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
