Vietnam signs up to Ag Visa

Vietnam has become the first country to sign-up to the long-awaited Agriculture Visa.

Australia’s long-awaited for Agriculture Visa is finally off the ground, with Vietnam becoming the first nation to sign up to the scheme.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has signed a bilateral agreement with the South-East Asian nation that will see Vietnamese workers begin arriving on Australian farms to fill critical labour shortages.

However precisely how soon that can happen is yet to be announced. Details of the agreement are still being agreed to, and are not expected to be finalised until after the Federal election.

Farming groups have been pushing for an agriculture-specific visa for more than four years amid snowballing worker shortages that have reached a crisis point since Covid-19 travel bans stopped the flow of workers able to enter the country.

The signing up of Vietnam to the new visa scheme has signalled to the agriculture industry that progress was being made despite a vocal campaign from the Australian Workers Union to frame it as a “pathway for exploitation”.

Union representatives met with ambassadors and lobbied embassies not to sign up to the visa because it believed Australian farmers would exploit their workers.

Industry groups, from the National Farmers’ Federation to AUSVEG and the Australian Fresh produce Alliance, have welcomed news of Vietnam’s participation as a sign of progress.

“This latest development demonstrates that the Ag Visa is progressing and will be able to provide another avenue for Australian growers to access the workers that they need to plant, harvest and pack produce for local and international markets,” AUSVEG chief executive Michael Coote said.

Welfare standards for the workers have been central to negotiations. Only accredited farmers will be able to access workers through the visa.

The Minister for Foregin Affairs, Senator Marise Payne, said Vietnam’s participation in the visa program strengthened and extended the already rich links between the two countries.

“Vietnam’s early participation in the Australian Agriculture Visa Program demonstrates the Morrison Government’s commitment to deepening cooperation under the Australia-Vietnam Strategic Partnership,” Ms Payne said.

The Ag Visa was announced on the sidelines of the post-Brexit free trade agreement with the United Kingdom in August last year.

The visa is open to the UK and 10 ASEAN countries and was designed to be made available from the end of September last year, however it has taken until this week for negotiations to progress to the signing-up of any of those countries.

National Farmers Federation president Tony Mahar said Vietnam’s partnership was “hugely positive” for the agriculture sector.

Mr Mahar said Australian agriculture and the growth of the regions was being curtailed by an inadequate farm workforce.

“The Ag Visa, designed to meet the labour requirements of farmers, will allow family farmers, which make up the lion’s share of Australian agriculture, to recruit the workers with the skills they need, for the time they need them,” he said.