As the headlines note, China suspending Australian meat exports as trade barriers escalate creates a challenge for Australian agriculture and in particular, our beef sector. We need to put these facts into context, notes AgriWebb co-founder Justin Webb.
The global outlook for beef consumption is bullish, reminds Webb, and Australia is a major exporter of it. China is an important trading partner but not our only one.
Besides, this isn’t the first time the PRC has issued suspensions – and the PRC claims that the latest bans, which affect less than 35 per cent of the livestock Australia exports to China, are in response to poor meat labelling and certification, issues that can be promptly rectified using ‘readily available’ digital technology.
‘These latest bans should be seen as another bump in the road, not a roadblock,’ Webb writes. ‘It’s also an opportunity for us to address the core issue: traceability.’
Source: China’s meat import bans – let’s put them into context I AgFunder News