“Australia has a long-standing relationship with China as a trusted source of high-quality and safe beef, and we are deeply disappointed by this decision,” Garry says.
“A decision we believe to be entirely unwarranted and at odds with the sentiment of the Free Trade Agreement we share,” he says.
“Throughout the review process, Australian representatives engaged extensively with Chinese officials, both here and in China, to demonstrate the value of the trade we share and provided formal evidence our imports do not injure the local Chinese beef industry.
“We strongly believe this decision will erode the access of Chinese consumers to a reliable source of high-quality, safely produced protein.
“Cattle Australia is highly supportive of global free trade with countries, underpinned by minimum equivalent biosecurity and food security standards.
“We are proud of the trade relationship we have held with China for many years, and the abundance of benefits this has brought to both nations, including supporting the Chinese beef industry in growing its own long-term prosperity by providing high quality breeding livestock and superior genetics.”
China is a long-term and important market for Australian beef and the new ‘safeguard’ measures proposed by China at two thirds of the past 12 months ($3.3 billion volume) effectively means that this will impact the equivalent of more than $1 billion in trade.
It is important to note this announcement does not single out Australia and is applicable to all nations, meaning countries including Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, the US and New Zealand will also have trade impacted, but it also does not specifically target those countries which have massively altered volumes to the China market.
“The safeguard measures are particularly disappointing for our industry given Australia accounts for only eight per cent of China’s beef imports, while other countries have massively increased the volume they supply at lower prices.
“For example, South America makes up almost 80 per cent of China’s overall import volume and this volume has the most direct market correlation to the beef produced domestically in China,” Garry says.
Australian representatives, including Cattle Australia, are seeking further details on the specifics of the safeguard measures and continue to engage with MOFCOM to understand the final decision and find long-term, mutually beneficial outcomes.
“While China is within its rights to impose safeguard measures under certain circumstances, we need more detailed information and discussions to understand why this decision has been made,” Garry says.
“We will continue to work closely with Australian and Chinese representatives to encourage them to take a longer-term view and determine how we can continue to work together for the benefit of each nation’s beef industry and Chinese consumers.”
