By Mike Foley
China has lifted an import ban on five Australian beef exporters, as trade tensions between the countries ease.
The agriculture sector has praised the work of the Albanese government in dealing with China over a raft of restrictions placed on Australia’s farm exports, even as it railed against draft laws introduced to parliament on Thursday to ban Western Australia’s live sheep exports.
China has lifted restrictions on five major beef Australian exporters.Credit: Bloomberg
Agriculture Minister Murray Watt announced the beef ban had been lifted on five meat-processing facilities in NSW and Queensland on Wednesday night, removing restrictions on exports worth about $1 billion a year, or roughly a third of Australia’s beef trade with China.
“That is fantastic news for the cattle producers, for the meat processing industry and for the workers in those industries,” Watt said on ABC television on Thursday morning.
Australia’s lobster exports are the last agricultural commodity to remain barred from the massive Chinese market.
The easing of beef trade restrictions follows a visit to China by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Trade Minister Don Farrell in November last year – the first visit of a PM to China since 2016.
In 2020, China imposed bans on Australian agriculture exports of barley, wine, lobster and major beef exporters in response to then-prime minister Scott Morrison’s push for an independent coronavirus inquiry. China cited labelling and health certificate requirements as reasons for the beef bans.
The bans on barley and wine were removed late last year and early this year respectively. Late last year three Australian beef processors were permitted to resume exports and bans were lifted on a further five meat processors on Wednesday, while two remain suspended.
Australian Meat Industry Council chief executive Patrick Hutchinson said China’s backdown would benefit the entire beef supply chain including “thousands of farmers and feedlots they support through cattle purchase”.
While the government will see the lifting of bans as a win, Labor has sparked a backlash across the country as it seeks to ban Australia’s live sheep exports.
Draft laws lodged on Thursday in parliament would outlaw the trade by May 2028. It only operates out of Western Australia with exports to the Middle East.
Labor pledged to ban live sheep exports on animal welfare grounds while in opposition in 2019. The policy followed the 2017 disaster when heat stress killed around 2500 sheep on the Awassi Express export vessel.
Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said the funding would support the industry to transition to onshore meat processing, and reiterated the live sheep trade was in decline before the ban was announced.
Credit: Matt Golding
“While live sheep export numbers have plummeted in the last 20 years, now contributing just 0.1 per cent of all national agricultural exports, sheep meat exports are going through the roof,” Watt said.
Australia exported around 600,000 sheep last year, and West Australian Premier Roger Cook has said the end of live sheep exports would cut 400 jobs.
The government has pledged a $107 million support package to help farmers switch to processing animals locally and exporting meat instead.
National Farmers’ Federation president David Jochinke said the live sheep ban had been driven by a misinformation campaign from animal activists.
“Activists want you to think this industry hasn’t changed. They want you to think that the ghastly scenes seared in our memories from many years back are still true today,” Jochinke said.
“That is completely false. The fact is we haven’t had a serious welfare incident on water since sweeping reforms more than seven years ago.”
NSW Farmers president Xavier Martin said while live sheep are exported from Western Australia the ban would limit the ability of farmers in eastern states to respond to weather and market events by shifting livestock around the country.
“This industry is a fundamental market tool that enables farmers to manage livestock and uphold high standards of animal welfare through trying seasons, market failure and more – and so without it, many farmers will have some major problems on their hands,” Martin said.
Victorian Farmers Federation president Emma Germano said the live sheep ban heralded a threat to other animal industries.
“It sends a message that your business can be shut down with the stroke of a pen and that leads to massive uncertainty throughout the entire Australian agriculture industry,” Germano said.
Nationals Leader David Littleproud said the government had not demonstrated a threat to animal welfare to justify the live sheep exports ban.
“Minister Watt made decisions without being given proper modelling or details into the impact of banning live sheep exports and without evidence.”
Farm groups maintain that Middle Eastern demand for live sheep will not decline due to Australia’s ban, and sheep will suffer under exports from countries with lower animal welfare standards.
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