INTERNATIONAL red meat markets now require information about beef industry sustainability and animal welfare, as global customers demand more insight into their food.
But this doesn’ mean the Australian red meat industry can “drop the ball” when it comes to biosecurity and food safety standards.
That’s according to Australian Meat Industry Council General Manager Industry Affairs Tim Ryan.
Mr Ryan told a future trade and market access seminar at Beef Australia in Rockhampton, Queensland that this “shift” in global customer requirements was vital to address, but proving Australia’s credentials could pose a “challenge”.
“There’s often not a globally accepted science-based standard when it comes to sustainability,” he said.
“(There are) individual countries and commercial buyers attempting to write their own (and this) makes it difficult, there’s variation around the world when it comes to sustainability.”
This comes as the Australian Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Murray Watt told the seminar that the beef industry’s experience with China in recent years demonstrated the value of diversifying export markets.
Mr Watt also told the crowd that Australia’s Free Trade Agreement with the United Kingdom increased the value of Australia’s beef exports to the UK by 411 percent – representing $38.8 million – between June 2023 and January 2024, compared to the same period a year earlier.
Exports of sheep meat, during this time, increased 19 per cent or $80.5 million.
Total Australian red meat exports to the UK in 2021-2022 were $150 million.
Building a Ridgeback®: The benefits outweigh the cost. The results of the Rangers Valley trial, where partially covered housing in the final 100 days boosted cattle performance – as presented by Dr Melissa George at BeefEx’s R&D session.
ONE global food integrity expert has praised Australia’s feedlot quality assurance program, crediting it for market access benefits and assisting the entire global beef industry’s social licence.
