Australian beef exports to get $304m boost from new China deal
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Australia’s beef industry is set to get an estimated A$400m ($304m) boost after China agreed to up the number of processors permitted to export the chilled meat to the country.
A joint statement issued during Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Australia outlined plans to increase the number of establishments allowed to export meat to China and expedite the applications from 15 companies waiting to join this list. There are currently 11 establishments permitted to export chilled meat to China.
The agreement partially reverses a 2013 ban on chilled Australian beef over food safety concerns.
China is Australia’s fourth-largest beef market worth A$670m last year, up from less than A$100m in 2011, Australian government officials said.
Shares in Australia Agricultural Company, a cattle and beef producer, jumped as much as 6 per cent.
The agreement will also increase Australia’s access for tripe exports to China as well as trade in donkey meat and donkey skins.
Ministers signed a Salmon Statement of Intent over the trade in the pink fish sourced from approved countries, processed in China and exported to Australia.
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