NATIONAL: A legal wrangle involving the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) and an independent jewellery company has highlighted the need for exporters to be more rigorous when applying for government grants, legal experts have claimed.
Australian company Isaac Jewellery has successfully appealed a decision by Austrade to reject its Export Market Development Grant (EMDG) application for the sum of $120,000. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal ruled in favour of Isaac Jewellery late last month for export expenditure incurred over the 2006/07 financial year.
Prior to establishing the Isaac Jewellery business, owner Is a Atakliyan operated a jewellery, design, manufacturing and wholesaling company with his brother Aram. Austrade initially rejected Atakliyan’s EMDG application on the basis that his new business was effectively a continuation of the old business, which had already used all of its grant entitlements. The original business had secured seven EMDG grants in previous years.
However, Atakliyan was ultimately successful in identifying a number of differences between the two businesses, such as a different corporate structure, employees and directors, designs and distribution channels.
Middletons senior associate Lisa Egans said fashion exporters should be aware there are a number of government grants which exist to assist their businesses.
“When applying for grants under the EMDG scheme, exporters should ensure that they meet the eligibility criteria and in particular, should seek advice if there is any change to the business ownership or structure to ensure this does not impact on the business’ eligibility to claim the grant.”
The EMDG scheme can assist Australian exporters with a large range of costs associated with exporting including overseas market visits, attendance at trade fairs, advertising and promotions, export market research and the protection of intellectual property rights overseas. The deadline for EMDG grant applications for the 2008/09 year is 30 November, 2009.
Assia Benmedjdoub