BIG strides have been made in trade negotiations in recent times to the beef industry’s favour but there is still plenty of work to be done in what is becoming an “increasingly crowded” scene.
The minute a tariff comes down, another barrier seems to go up so there was no room for beef to take the foot of the accelerator in terms of market access.
These messages were delivered by Meat and Livestock Australia’s trade and market access manager Andrew McCallum at a recent global beef markets forum in Brisbane.
In the same week a meatpacking food quality scandal erupted in Brazil with the potential to devastate their massive beef export trade, Mr McCallum’s assertion that the last thing any export-dependant industry wants is customers closing their doors struck a loud note.
The current trade environment for beef was challenging and unpredictable, he said.
Nationalism is rising, and while that’s nothing new, the disturbing part at the moment is protectionism is wrapped up inside that, he said.
“So we have to be conscious of what is happening politically as well as through normal trade,” Mr McCallum said.
Multilateral deals were proving problematic to get over the line so it was likely more bilateral or one-on-one deals would be the way of the future, he said.
And preferential, rather than free, is more likely on the cards.
“But all our competitors are circling, trying to do just that too,” he said.
Meanwhile, the list of economic impediments impacting our business overseas is growing.
From China’s demands on chilled meat and tripe to meat piece size limitations for manufacturing beef to Egypt, shelf life hurdles on chilled meat in the Middle East and a strict import regime in Indonesia, so-called non tariff, or technical, barriers (NTBs) last year had a $3.4 billion impact on our red meat industry.
At the same time, it’s becoming a case of shoulder-to-shoulder in some of our highest value markets.
“Brazil is entering the US and China, India is in Indonesia - some of the markets Australia has dominated due to other’s diseases issues are being affected,” Mr McCallum said.
“One way we can get ahead of this is cutting costs out of the supply chain - NTBs add more cost to us doing business.
“There are storm clouds ahead so we need to keep the wheels in motion, keep the advocacy strong on this.
“If we become disinterested in this area, so will our government, and as a result it will be some time before we see more trade reform benefits.”
Utopia, he said, was a world without trade barriers ‘but most of us will be long gone before that comes to fruition.’
Shan Goodwin
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
