Latest news with #USbeef
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Aussies urged to ask one question as US beef re-enters market
A woman who has vowed to boycott US beef is urging Australians to always ask where their meat is from before buying it at hospitality venues. Video transcript As soon as that American beef starts coming into Australia, we've all got to get really brave at asking cafes and restaurants and fast food places where the beef's coming from, if you get anything with beef in it, 'cos that's where it's gonna end up, is where you can't easily check the label. Because, of course, it's easy in the supermarket to check the label for Australian grown, but that's gonna sneak in, and it'll be big places that use a lot of beef. So, it's awkward sometimes. Well, I find it awkward to ask. The source of things, but we've got to do it. We don't want to eat that beef.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Are Australians about to see US beef on supermarket shelves? And why is Donald Trump celebrating?
Donald Trump has claimed victory over Australia's decision to lift restrictions on the import of US beef, but don't expect to see the product on supermarket shelves anytime soon, says industry. Much has been made of the timing of the decision, which followed a decade-long process by the agriculture department, and coincides with a push from the Trump administration to open up Australia's market to US exporters. The government has said there will be no weakening or compromise of Australia's biosecurity in opening the gates to more US beef, and most in the cattle and farming industry doubt we'll see much increase of US exports. Here's what you need to know about what impact it could have in Australia. Sign up: AU Breaking News email More than 99% of beef available in Australian pubs, supermarkets and restaurants is Australian beef, says Meat and Livestock Australia. The industry body, as well as Cattle Farmers Australia and the National Farmers' Federation, believe it's unlikely the restriction change will have any significant material impact. Dr Kate Sievert at Deakin University said US beef can't compete with the strong domestic cattle industry. She said it's unlikely Australians could see more US beef on the supermarket shelf, but it could be used more in fast-food or prepackaged meals. 'It's more likely to be used in specific segments of the food system, so areas like food service, particularly in fast-food service or ultra-processed products like ready meals,' Sievert said. 'The US relies a lot more on confined animal feeding operations where it's cheaper to produce.' That doesn't necessarily make it cheaper overall than Australian beef. The cattle industry has also pointed out that of the more niche or exclusive cuts of beef that the US produces, almost all are available already in Australia. Sievert said the rule change would put Australia more in line with countries such as Japan and South Korea that have been importing more beef from the US. But the US has also been facing a steady decline in its cattle herds, and production fell about 1% in 2024. 'Cattle herd sizes are the lowest they've been in decades,' Sievert said. Asked whether the decision on beef will change the dynamic with the US administration, the trade minister, Don Farrell, told the Lowy Institute thinktank on Friday: 'I'm not too sure. 'We haven't done this in order to entice the Americans into a trade agreement,' he said. 'President Trump thinks it's a good decision, [he's] taking credit for it. We have to pursue our national interest, and our national interest is the removal of all of those tariffs.' The government has been at pains to say the decision is not linked to the trade relationship, or the demands for open access from the US. Farrell said the government shouldn't 'give up' on the ambition to have the tariffs removed. He also said Australia's exports have been increasing to the US, ever since the tariffs were announced. 'We do $4bn worth of beef exports to the United States, and it's increasing by the way, we export huge amounts of beef to China, again, that's increasing.' On Thursday, Donald Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, 'The other Countries that refuse our magnificent Beef are ON NOTICE.' The Nationals said those comments from Trump sit at odds with the government's assertion that the decision was separate to the tariffs. The deputy leader of the Nationals, Kevin Hogan, said in a statement that Australia cannot use 'our science-based biosecurity standards as a bargaining chip'. 'We have the US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer directly connecting this decision to the US-Australia trade relationship, but the Albanese Government is saying the complete opposite,' he said. Australia introduced a ban on US beef imports in 2003, in response to an outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease. Any country seeking market access to import fresh beef products must undergo a BSE risk assessment. In 2015, Australia granted the US a category 1 status, following a risk assessment, meaning the US had 'comprehensive and well-established controls' to prevent BSE outbreaks in cattle. Category 1 countries are able to import fresh and processed beef into Australia so long as they comply with other conditions. In 2017, Australia released the beef review, which assessed applications for market access from countries that had passed the BSE risk assessment, including the US. That review should have been the final step in allowing access to the Australian market – except it specified that the animal from which the beef was derived must have been 'continuously resident' in the approved country since birth. In 2019, the government began allowing beef imports from cattle traceably born and raised in the US. Imports were also subject to an ongoing biosecurity review that, in practice, has still meant no imports of fresh beef. The restriction changes now allow beef exports that are sourced from cattle born in Canada or Mexico, which the US has been importing to bolster its national herd. That cattle must be traceable, and legally imported and slaughtered in the US. The US imported an average of 700,000 cattle, buffalo or bison from Canada each year between 2019 and 2023 and 1.2 million per year from Mexico over the same period. However, live cattle imports from Mexico have been banned in the US since May, due to the spread of a flesh-eating pest.
News.com.au
4 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
‘This is very big': Delighted Trump hails Australian beef deal for a second day
Donald Trump has again riffed about Australia's decision to allow more US beef to come in to the country claiming on Friday it would be the 'first time' American beef would be sold in Australia. Seemingly out of the blue on Friday, and a full day after he declared victory due to Australia dropping its restrictions, Mr Trump was back on his TruthSocial platform talking about it again. 'Australia to take US BEEF for first time,' he wrote on Friday morning, US time. 'A very BIG market. I hope our GREAT FARMERS ARE HAPPY. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!' Australia had not banned US beef. But on Thursday, agriculture minister Julie Collins confirmed Australia will remove the ban on American beef that came from cattle originating in Canada and Mexico after a decade-long review. It was originally put in place to stop bovine spongiform encephalopathy, known as mad cow disease, from coming into Australia. Since 2019, Australia has allowed imports of beef raised and slaughtered in the US. But it did not allow for the import into Australia via the US of beef raised in neighbouring countries. Additional measures put in place by the US to track the origin of Canadian and Mexican beef are being cited as the reason Australia is now satisfied. 'For a long time, and even though we are great friends, they actually banned our Beef,' said Mr Trump on Thursday, US time. Now, we are going to sell so much to Australia because this is undeniable and irrefutable Proof that US Beef is the Safest and Best in the entire World.' The US imports billions of dollars of Australian beef each years which is leaner than American beef. Decision based on 'science' The Albanese government has been quick to deny the timing has anything to do with drawn-out tariff talks with the US, reported NewsWire. But removing restrictions was one of Washington's key demands in tariff negotiations, with Mr Trump specifically accusing Australia of banning American beef during remarks on 'liberation day' – the day the US imposed blanket tariffs on all foreign imports, including Australian products. But both Ms Collins and Trade Minister Don Farrell have claimed it is simply a coincidence the beef review ended just weeks after the US President threatened a 200 per cent tariff on foreign-made pharmaceuticals. 'We haven't made any compromise, and we certainly haven't compromised Australia's strict biosecurity laws,' Senator Farrell told reporters huddled in a Parliament House corridor on Thursday. 'This has been a process that's been underway for the last 10 years. 'It's now come to a completion, and it's appropriate that we announce the results of that inquiry, but at no stage do we risk our terrific biosecurity standards for any trade arrangement.'
SBS Australia
5 days ago
- Health
- SBS Australia
The big biosecurity question at the centre of Australia's US beef move
The federal government has lifted a ban on beef imports from the United States, expanding access to products sourced from Canada and Mexico. It's a move some experts say risks Australia's biosecurity and may be politically motivated. Although the US has been able to send beef to Australia since 2019, any cattle raised in Canada or Mexico before being slaughtered and processed in the US was previously barred due to biosecurity concerns. Now, following a decade-long science-based review, that restriction is gone. But some question whether Australia's strict biosecurity laws are being used for political gain, with the government facing questions over whether the move was made to appease US President Donald Trump. Biosecurity concerns One key concern was that Mexico's livestock tracking system could inadvertently allow beef from disease-affected regions to enter Australia. But the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry said the new changes follow the introduction of more robust movement controls in the US in late 2024 and early 2025, allowing for better tracing of cattle through the supply chain. Professor Michael Ward, a veterinary public health expert at the University of Sydney, said the decision opens Australia up to more risk because disease traceability in North America is "not quite as strong" as in Europe. Australia allows imports of beef products from a limited number of European countries. "You can potentially have cattle coming from lower disease status areas caught up in what gets exported, and then trying to work out where it's come from, that becomes really difficult," he said. "You can't really [separate those markets] in the US because it's such a bigger market and it's integrated … If a cow is moved to the US and it's there for three months, is it then an American cow? "You're basically increasing the pool of potentially risky animals, and that then flows into the risk assessment." The main risks associated with beef imports are the introduction of diseases such as mad cow disease and foot and mouth disease. Both the US and Mexico are free from both diseases. Canada is free of foot and mouth disease, but has had some cases of mad cow disease in the past. Ward said it's not "reasonable to believe all three countries have the same risk". "They're different systems, different countries, different raising conditions, different administrations. As you increase the number of countries, you're going to increase the risk." A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture said the review was the culmination of "a decade of science and risk-based import assessment and evaluation … to make sure Australia's robust biosecurity measures are upheld". They added that the government would "not compromise on our enviable biosecurity status or our food standards, ever". Is biosecurity being used as a bargaining tool? Some believe the change could help Australia negotiate a better trade deal with the US — particularly on tariffs. As part of his sweeping global tariffs, Trump introduced a baseline 10 per cent tariff on many Australian goods in April. "[Australians] ban American beef," Trump said at the time. "Yet, we imported [US]$3 billion ($4.5 billion) of Australian beef from them just last year alone … They don't want it because they don't want it to affect their farmers." Nationals leader David Littleproud has accused the Albanese government of using the beef industry to appease Trump as it continues to pursue a broader tariff exemption. "It looks as though it's [biosecurity] been traded away to appease Donald Trump," Littleproud said on ABC's Radio National on Thursday. Coalition frontbencher James Paterson called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to "stand up ... and explain" to Australia's beef farmers that the government hasn't "watered down" biosecurity. Ward is also concerned the government is "playing off" biosecurity protections to secure a better deal. "It seems like a trade-driven decision," he said. He warned that the short-term economic gain from lifting tariffs could pale in comparison to the potential cost of a disease outbreak. "It's a huge concern — once you have introduced a disease — foot and mouth disease, for example — years and years and millions of dollars are spent trying to control that," he said. "That short-term gain — if it is tariff-driven — whether what the benefit of that is compared to a long-term disease scenario, it just doesn't add up. You really have to think about the long-term." Trade Minister Don Farrell has denied any link between the decision and pressure from the US. "There's nothing suspicious about this," he told Sky News. "If we want to export our beef overseas, then we have to accept that other countries will want to import their beef into Australia." "We're not going to allow our biosecurity rules to be impacted by the trade issues." How has the industry responded? Some industry groups say they support science-based decision-making but expressed frustration over the lack of transparency. "Science must remain the cornerstone of technical market access decisions," Australian Meat Industry Council CEO Tim Ryan said in a statement. "This progress on the US's access request demonstrates Australia's consistency in applying internationally recognised standards, which is vital to the long-term sustainability of our sector." The National Farmers Federation (NFF) said the decision needed to come "separate from any tariff negotiations". "The NFF's been clear that the revised request from the US needed to undergo the standard, science-based assessment to protect our biosecurity, and should be dealt with separate from any tariff negotiations," the organisation said in a statement. Cattle Australia CEO Will Evans said the announcement came without proper consultation. "There's going to be a lot of people today who feel blindsided by this, there's going to be a lot of people who are going to feel really frustrated and threatened by this," he told ABC radio. 'This science-based process has been, and always should be, conducted completely independently of any international trade negotiations," he added. Ward said that without seeing the final risk assessment, it's hard to judge whether the safeguards are sufficient. "It's a bit surprising," he said. "I would have thought if it's good science, you publicise it." SBS News has contacted Agriculture Minister Julie Collins for comment. With additional reporting from AAP.
SBS Australia
5 days ago
- Business
- SBS Australia
The Meat Import Ban lifted: Why Now, and What's Behind It?
LISTEN TO SBS Indonesian 24/07/2025 02:51 Indonesian Australia has made major concessions to the United States in its efforts to gain tariff exemptions, by lifting a ban on US beef. The ban was imposed years ago to protect local Australian industries from outbreaks of mad cow disease and foot-and-mouth disease, but Australian Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said the move did not represent a compromise in terms of safety and biosecurity laws would remain enforced. Nationals leader David Littleproud could become deputy prime minister if Peter Dutton wins the election. Source: AAP / Russell Freeman Senator from the National Party, Bridget McKenzie, accused the Prime Minister of sacrificing the beef export industry to strengthen Australia's relationship with the US. Listen to SBS Indonesian every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 3pm. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram , and don't miss our podcasts .
