In the three years following Australia's 2010 trade deal with Southeast Asia, Australian wheat exports to those countries grew by an average of 19 per cent a year which was more than double the growth of the region's overall wheat imports.

The industry organisation Grain Growers Ltd is reluctant to attribute this bonanza entirely to the tariff reductions in the relatively low-profile trade deal given Australia's freight advantages and dietary changes in the fast emerging regional middle class.