China suspends imports from Naracoorte’s Teys Australia abattoir over work-with-Covid orders

Jobs are on the line over an “unjustified” hit from China on a South East abattoir, say local leaders, after the plant was drawn into a Covid controversy.

China is under fire for using a Covid outbreak at a South Australian abattoir as the reason it has suspended beef imports with no pathway to resuming trade.

Livestock SA, the Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union and Liberal Barker MP Tony Pasin said using Covid-19 as a grounds to suspend products from Teys Australia Naracoorte were unjustified.

Teys was at the centre of a Covid outbreak last month where staff who tested positive were asked to return to work if they were asymptomatic.

Meat exports to China account for 5 per cent of the company’s production.

Livestock SA president Joe Keynes said he would be disappointed if the ban, enforced from January 30, was ongoing.

“It seems a bit funny that they used Covid as a reason given, I suspect, Covid cannot be transmitted in meat products,” Mr Keynes said.

“Hopefully we can overcome this in the shortest possible term because …. the Chinese market is one of the markets for Australian beef.”

Member for Barker Tony Pasin said China’s move put local jobs at risk.

Teys Australia abattoir at Naracoorte. Picture: ABC News

Last month, Covid-positive workers at the Naracoorte abattoir were given an exemption to attend the meatworks after at least 140 staff contracted Covid-19.

Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union branch organiser Debra Kennedy said Teys risked having to “jump through a fair few hoops” to resume trade with China.

The union spoke about the ban at the state’s Covid-19 response parliamentary committee on Tuesday.

Ms Kennedy said Teys Naracoorte was the tenth abattoir in Australia with which China had temporarily suspended trade.

“They are going to have to appease the Chinese government to get that export back, and since Covid started, I have not seen an abattoir get back its export status,” Ms Kennedy said.

“I expect it is going to be a hard task for Teys Naracoorte to try and get (it) back – they’ll probably have to go through some stringent stuff.”

Ms Kennedy said it was unlikely Covid could be transmitted on meat.

“From what we know, Covid isn’t something that is going to be transferred to the product,” she said.

“Why China has got this Covid reason is what we don’t understand.”

Barker MP Tony Pasin said the decision could put jobs on the line.

“It is disappointing and hardly surprising given the obvious trade tensions between our two countries,” the Liberal MP said.

Outside meat producer, Teys Australia Naracoorte. Picture Arj Ganesan

“The (suspension) is going to have impacts on employees of the abattoirs, but also producers will now experience a reduction in competition for their stock and commensurate devaluations.”

Last month, Teys Australia was accused of imposing “demeaning” conditions on infectious staff, which included wearing coloured hair nets to identify if they had the virus.

Teys industry and corporate affairs general manager John Langbridge said a dollar figure had not yet been put on the loss of trade with China.

“I wouldn’t have any idea at this stage and it is entirely in the hands of the Australian and Chinese governments,” Dr Langbridge said.

“Historically, other plants that have been temporarily suspended to China out of Australia are still waiting to get back on the list.”

Meat & Livestock Australia and Australian Meat Industry Council declined to comment.

The meat workers union also criticised SafeWork SA, alleging it had not visited the abattoir during the outbreak due to concerns it would be putting its own staff at risk.

But a SafeWork SA spokeswoman said several site visits had been made