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History

The development of a national grower body for Tropical Exotic Fruits was initiated by Queensland and Northern Territory exotic tropical fruit growers in 2004, and came to fruition with support from the Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries under the Industry Partnership Program.

Tropical Exotic Fruit Australia Incorporated (TEFA) was established in 2007 following a merger of the Rambutan and Tropical Exotic Growers Association Incorporated (RTEGA) of Queensland with the Rambutan and Tropical Exotic Fruit sub-groups of the Northern Territory Horticultural Association. However the seed for collaboration was planted long before when these two likeminded grower groups forged a memorandum of understanding and worked in unison to develop a voluntary levy to undertake research and development activities.

TEFA was established to improve the profile and foster the development of the tropical exotic fruit industry estimated to be worth over $9 million annually. TEFA will work to improve the industry by commissioning national research and development projects in partnership with RIRDC and others. It will develop a stronger, unified voice to provide a more visible profile for tropical exotic crops and will lobby on behalf of growers on critical issues. There are many advantages to representing all the minor fruits together - unity, critical mass and maximum leverage of available funding to name a few.

TEFA will initially focus on securing ongoing industry funding to achieve its mission, to represent the tropical exotic fruit industry and the deliver on key industry issues. TEFA aims to develop a statutory levy to secure and sustainable funding. RIRDC have agreed to support the consultative process that will ensure all tropical exotic fruit growers have the opportunity to consider a statutory levy.

TEFA has a management committee comprising three Queensland representatives and two Northern Territory representatives. Committee members are elected by commercial grower members in their respective regions. Local Advisory Committees have been appointed in NT, QLD and WA to report to Management Committee. The NT Horticultural Association (NTHA) based in Darwin, has been appointed to provide secretariat services to TEFA.

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