Australian beef exports to China can resume after trade war suspension, minister says
- by Admin
- May 29, 2024
Five major Australian beef exporters suspended from exporting meat to China can now resume, Agriculture Minister Murray Watt has confirmed.
Senator Watt told ABC News Breakfast the suspensions were lifted by Beijing on Wednesday night with immediate effect.
“We had already seen a couple of other processing operations have their trade bans lifted, but now [it’s] another five,” Senator Watt said.
“That is fantastic news for the cattle producers, for the meat processing industry and for the workers in those industries.”
Meat industry analyst Simon Quilty told the ABC the reinstated meatworks are the Kilcoy Pastoral Company, Meramist at Caboolture, the JBS-owned Beef City (near Toowoomba) and Dinmore (near Brisbane), and the Northern Cooperative Meat Company at Casino.
The meatworks had been trading about $1 billion worth of beef when they were locked out due to technical reasons during a trade war that began in 2020.
China previously lifted COVID-related suspensions on three Australian abattoirs in December, while two further exporters, John Dee and Australian Country Choice, remain on the suspended list.
The Australian Meat Industry Council (AMIC) welcomed Beijing’s latest move, calling it a “great outcome not only for these companies but the clients some of them process for, and the thousands of farmers and feedlots they support through cattle purchase”.
“After four years of advocacy and hard work on the behalf of red meat exporters we have finally achieved a fantastic result,” said AMIC CEO Patrick Hutchinson.
“As a matter of priority, we will continue working with the federal government and China on … having the remaining two exporters’ suspensions lifted.
“We are thankful to the Australian government, Prime Minister Albanese, Minister Watt and Minister Farrell [for] their work in assisting these businesses to regain their access to this incredibly important market.”
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Former trade minister and Shadow Immigration Minister Dan Tehan said the lifting of the suspensions showed Beijing understood its sanctions did not work.
“China has realised this is hurting them and not us,” he told the ABC’s RN Breakfast.
“I give the previous Coalition government credit and current Albanese Labor government credit.”
China maintains the suspensions it imposed on a number of Australian abattoirs from 2020 were related to COVID regulations or were for technical reasons such as labelling errors.
However, analysts say the protracted bans were part of a campaign of economic punishment conducted by China against Australia due to political tensions.
China has since lifted trade barriers it placed on other Australian goods, such as crippling tariffs on barley and wine.
Trade barriers remain on lobster exporters.
Posted , updated
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