Australia can soon send 10 times as much beef to the UK

The free-trade agreement with the UK is a win for beef producers but not every producer will be able to cash in on the high value market.

Only beef producers with European Union-accreditation will benefit from the lifting of trade barriers with the United Kingdom at the end of the month.

But Australian industry officials are in talks with the UK to waiver the current requirement for EU-accreditation to access the UK market, and instead use the nation’s traceability system as a guarantee of quality.

The UK-FTA comes into effect at the end of May, and will immediately give Australia access 35,000 tonnes of tariff-free beef into the UK market.

That’s a major scaling up from the less than 4000 tonne tariff-free quota Australia currently holds.

When the trade is fully liberalised in 2038, the tariff-free quota will be 110,000 with a gradual transition to this final amount. After 10 years, there will be no tariff but a “volume safeguard provision” will apply for the following five years.

Yet with less than 4000 producers currently holding the EU-accreditation according to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry statistics, some of the quota may go unused.

Cattle Australia chief executive officer Luke Bowen said while it was currently a requirement to have EU-accreditation to access the UK market, “you have to be hopeful this can change”.

Mr Bowen said a lack of a premium for EU beef in the past had discouraged producers from either gaining or maintaining their accreditation, hence the relatively small number holding accreditation.

“We know there are negotiations going on at the moment to look at other traceability systems which could satisfy the requirements of the UK market,” Mr Bowen said.

“We hope this can happen.”

Mr Bowen said there had been no indication what type of beef the UK may be interested in yet, and whether there would be a preference for either grain or grass fed beef.

Australia-UK red meat market access task force chairman Andrew McDonald said there was a long history of British consumers being loyal consumers of Australian beef and sheepmeat.

SheepProducers Australia chief executive Bonnie Skinner said UK-FTA “will deliver benefits and opportunities for many Australian producers”.

“For sheepmeat this means Australia will have access to a tariff-free quota of 25,000 tonnes rising to 75,000 tonnes and tariffs eliminated after ten years,” Ms Skinner said.

“The security and expansion of current markets is important for Australian sheep producers and creates ongoing certainty for the industry.”