UK-Australia FTA failing to meet quotas for red meat

The amount of red meat being exported under the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement is falling well short of the quotas.

The UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement has failed to secure big volumes of red meat exports with year-to-date figures falling well short of the quotas.

The figures come as the nation’s exports of lamb, beef and mutton are on the cusp of producing records as global demand for Australian protein ramps up.

In its first full year of operation under the FTA, Australia has exported just 5074 tonnes of beef to the UK from January to October.

To put this in perspective, the major customer for Australian beef – the United States – bought 45,000 tonnes in a single month (October).

And while the UK export figures are already up on last year for beef, where 1914 tonnes were imported until the end of October, they are still well short of the 43,333 tonne tariff-free quota limit.

In 2023, the UK beef market was worth $143 million for Australia, placing it 19th in terms of volume among Australia’s customers, behind countries like Canada, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Hong Kong.

The news is more promising for lamb, with 11,780 tonnes exported from January to October, and on track to beat the 13,351 tonnes exported last year.

In 2023, the UK was the eighth biggest customer of Australian sheep meat, and spent $88 million on lamb and $24 million on mutton.

Australian Meat Industry Council acting chief executive officer Tim Ryan said the gains under the UK-Australia FTA “allowed for long term certainty in trade volumes to the market for the Australian red meat industry”.

Mr Ryan said there was strong demand globally for Australian meat but the UK market was a longer-term game.

“In this context, it is not surprising that many Australian red meat exporters are taking a long-term approach to establishing solid commercial partnerships and developing the market,” Mr Ryan said.

“The UK presents opportunities for growth in Australian beef, lamb and goat across a variety of product categories and we expect this to grow over time to be a highly important market to the Australian meat industry.”

A spokesman for Meat and Livestock Australia said Irish beef dominated the UK imported market segment and had done for many years.

“The UK is a high value market with good potential,” the spokesman said.

“Australia is well placed to be a preferred supplier to UK retail when that sector opens up on imported product which will happen in time.

“This is due to our sustainability, animal welfare and quality credentials.”

The spokesman said lamb exports had been hindered by longer shipping times due to delays travelling through the Suez canal, which had lifted to up to 70 days, with chilled lamb having a shelf life of 90 days.