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ABC News
5 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
What does lifting trade restrictions on US beef mean for Australia?
It might not be on our plates or menus just yet, but US beef has been a hot topic of conversation across the nation after this week's decision to lift import restrictions that had been in place for more than two decades. Australia banned beef imports from the US in 2003 after the fatal neurological disease bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease, was discovered in American cattle. The blanket ban was lifted in 2019, however restrictions remained on beef that was sourced from Canada or Mexico and slaughtered in the US, amid concerns it could carry the disease. "The Americans were unwilling to … do the traceability work to make sure that beef that was coming to Australia wasn't actually rebranded from somewhere else," veterinarian and former NSW Farmers Association president, James Jackson, said. "We don't want foot and mouth disease in this country, we don't want our consumers to eat beef and get Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which is the disease you get from eating cattle with mad cow disease." While some in the industry were optimistic that lifting the restrictions would open up trade opportunities for Australian producers, others raised concerns that Australia's biosecurity could be compromised. The federal government said the move was the result of a decade-long biosecurity review that found more robust movement controls had been introduced in the US. "The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is satisfied the strengthened control measures put in place by the US effectively manage biosecurity risks," Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said. "The Albanese Labor government will never compromise on biosecurity." Nationals leader David Littleproud questioned the timing of the decision, saying it looked as though it was a trade to appease US President Donald Trump. The biosecurity restrictions on beef imports from the United States were one of the key grievances that led the Trump administration to impose tariffs on Australia. Red Meat Advisory Council chair John McKillop said while the decision may have been pushed through "slightly quicker" than expected, he was confident it was the result of a long-running assessment. Global AgriTrends analyst Simon Quilty said the risk of US beef imports introducing diseases to Australia was now much lower. "They have improved their traceability methods within America and I think, in all honesty, that the degree of risk is significantly low," he said. Mr McKillop said any risk would also be mitigated by the limited amount of beef Australia was likely to import from the US. "They have the lowest beef herd in 70 years in the US at the moment [due to drought]," he said. "The most [beef] that was ever brought in, and this was pre-BSE … was 210 tonnes … in contrast to the 395,000 tonnes we exported to the US last year." Mr McKillop said the US was also experiencing near-record beef and cattle prices, and it was unlikely Australians would want to pay high prices for their product. While the amount of beef coming into Australia from the US may be limited, Mr Jackson said there could be a market for it. "There may be some lines [of product] come into Australia, people who want to sell American beef on a restaurant menu or something like that," he said. Mr Jackson said Australia must be open to accepting American beef if it wanted to maintain a trade relationship with the US. "Part of a trade deal is that you're willing to take product from other countries," he said. "Are we happy with Australian consumers eating American beef? Well, probably we're not that happy, but the reality is that if you trade, you've got to be happy to take other people's product as well." The trade restriction on US beef has been a key grievance for the Trump administration, which placed a 10 per cent tariff on all Australian imports earlier this year. Professor Ben Lyons, from the University of Southern Queensland's Rural Economies Centre of Excellence, said it was difficult to know how the move would impact that tariff. "Nothing would surprise us at the moment because that's the new paradigm under the Trump administration — full of surprises," he said. Dr Lyons said he was confident the Australian beef industry would maintain a strong export market, regardless of US-imposed tariffs. "If past performance is the best indicator of the future, we always seem to find a way with our export markets," he said. "Even the announcement of this tariff on Australian beef at the beginning of the year hasn't really had any economic impact as yet on our exports. "I think we should just carry on calmly and do what we do best. I don't really see this as being a long-term issue for Australian agriculture."
Sky News AU
03-07-2025
- Health
- Sky News AU
Fire ant invasion spreads south as farmers and scientists call on federal and NSW governments for more help eradicating the threat
Scientists and farmers are pleading with the NSW and Albanese governments for extra funding after a fire ant nest was found in the Northern Rivers region of NSW. The state government confirmed the nest, which was discovered on a residential property in Tweed Heads, was destroyed yesterday and ordered a survey of the immediate 500 metres surrounding the site for any other fire ant activity. A 5-kilometre exclusion zone around the property has been established, restricting the movement of high-risk material that could contain the insects. "This is a national biosecurity emergency unfolding right in front of us," Invasive Species Council advocacy manager Reece Pianta said. "We urgently need the Albanese government to step up, match Queensland's $24 million suppression funding boost, and commit to the full ongoing eradication program,' Mr Pianta said, referring to the extra eradication efforts and funding the Crisafulli government committed to yesterday in regional areas of southeast Queensland "Their aggressive stings can trigger severe allergic reactions in humans, and they pose a serious threat to pets, livestock, native animals, and infrastructure.' The NSW Farmers Association is also calling for a crackdown, with biosecurity committee chair Tony Hegarty saying the repeated detections of fire ants in the state pointed to a colossal biosecurity failure. "We're rapidly losing the battle from one pest to another here in NSW, and the way we're going, fire ants could well be the next threat our government fails to control," he said. "Current biosecurity measures clearly aren't doing the job, and while we've got $100 million in new biosecurity funding, this one pest alone could cost us $60 billion over the next 30 years." According to the Invasive Species Council, fire ants came into Australia in shipping containers from the United States. There they cost US agriculture over $10 billion ($6.5 billion US) each year. In the US, 30% to 60% of people in infested areas are stung each year. The alkaloid venom causes pustules and, in some people, allergic reactions. More than 95% of Australia is suitable for fire ant infestation, with only extreme cold areas escaping the invasive species.
