Rhonda Anderson wrote:

Old Mother Ashby wrote in news:44207f92$0$4646
:



maxine in ri wrote:


I was reading that bananas are up to AUD6 per kilo. Are they always
that dear? In the states, they're about US$1 per kilo and less most
places. I wonder if it's because of your import restrictions?

Glad you're all alive. The rest of it can be rebuilt or regrown.



Import restriction? What import restrictions? Haven't you heard about
the Free Trade Agreement? Only the Us has import restrictions these
days, it seems. ;-)



May seem that way when you look at what we got out of the FTA g. However,
we may not have other sorts of import restrictions, but there are certainly
still quarantine restrictions based on pest and disease risks. We don't
currently permit the importation of fresh bananas from any country, under
any conditions.



Oh I dunno about that. Give them time. I have just been reading Robert
Manne's essay in The Monthly on Howard's devotion to the USA and he
quotes Robert Zoellick, one of the American FTA negotiators. "Food
inspection procedures that have produced barriers in the past will be
addressed." Apparently new joint quarantine working groups and
committees have been formed in Australia. If that is true - and you
would be in a position to know - what are they trying to achieve if not
loosening the restrictions?

Christine