News & Insights

The Queensland Government has launched its Go Global Export Program aimed at helping small and medium-sized Queensland-based businesses enter international markets.

Run by Trade and Investment Queensland (TIQ), the program offers two levels of project funding – Micro Export Grants up to $5,000 (excluding GST) and Macro Export Grants up to $25,000 (excluding GST).

According to TIQ, ‘[t]he grant is available to support project costs that improve the ability of your business to export your goods/services or engage in international trade’.

eligible project costs include:

• Export business advisory services and tools;
• Costs of product testing and redesign, packaging and labelling required to meet an export market requirement;
• Support to gain export accreditation and Free Trade Agreement documents (expenses incurred to gain various export-related accreditation for, but not limited to, Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point or Halal accreditation;
• Cost of a trial export program – e.g., logistics involved in delivering the first export activity in a new market;
• Costs associated with product approvals, installation, training, operations, and maintenance required for a new client/market (travel is only accepted for these defined activities and not any business development purpose);
• Professional advice (legal, accounting, financial) on contract negotiation, IP advice, counterfeit protection, attracting funding to scale up to meet demand.

Undertaking to go global and enter a new international marketplace is an opportunity for rapid growth, but it also comes with additional legal risk compared to domestic expansion.

Macpherson Kelley can assist your business throughout the process of going global with expert commercial and intellectual property advice to help you navigate an international expansion.

If your business is ready to go global, please get in touch with Mark Metzeling.

Applications for the Go Global Export Program opened on 7 February 2020 and will close at 1pm AEST on 30 May 2020.

More information about the Go Global Export Program is available via the TIQ website.

The information contained in this article is general in nature and cannot be relied on as legal advice nor does it create an engagement. Please contact one of our lawyers listed above for advice about your specific situation.