AUSTRALIA'S biggest walnut producer will have to wait seven years before it can export to South Korea after walnuts were excluded from a new free trade agreement.
Webster Ltd chief executive John Hosken said no clear reason was given for walnuts being excluded from the Korea Australia Free Trade Agreement (KAFTA) announced by the federal government in February.
KAFTA will remove tariffs on almost all of Australia's exports to South Korea, including beef, dairy products, wine, almonds and macadamias - either immediately or over a number of years.
Walnuts, however, will remain subject to a 50 per cent tariff because they were listed as too sensitive, along with rice and honey.
Mr Hosken said no explanation was given for the decision, which was disappointing because South Korea is a major importer of the nuts from the United States under a free trade deal with that country.
"They have claimed sensitive status on walnuts, so I'm absolutely delighted for the (Australian nut) industry but very disappointed that we have missed out," Mr Hosken said.
"We won't be able to make a start there for another seven years."
The exclusion came just as Webster's Walnuts Australia business opened a new, $11 million nut processing facility in Leeton, New South Wales, to produce shelled walnuts.
Walnuts Australia grows about 95 per cent of Australia's walnut crop and in 2013 was named Agribusiness of the Year at the National Export Awards.
Mr Hosken said he will meet with trade minister Andrew Robb in April to seek more information on why the walnut industry missed out in the free trade deal.
The United States increased its shipments of walnuts to South Korea by 21 per cent in 2012 after establishing a free trade agreement, and now counts South Korea as its biggest export market, worth about $US100 million a year.
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