Beef Imports: Australians Say No!
by Has Mad Cow disease affected our politicians?! The ban on importing beef has been lifted by the Australian Government. BSE-affected countries including the US and the UK can apply to export beef products to Australia…
We export a little over 85 per cent of what we produce and exports contribute to the wealth of this country. Can Australians trust the authorities in these countries to apply the same regimented processing standards that we implement here? Will every shipment be tested and cleared prior to leaving the country of origin? Will the Australian consumer know what they are eating, where it has come from and how it was produced, and in addition, will the manufacturer using imported meats be required to first meet the labelling criteria in order to sell their product? Will the removal of this long-standing ban result in more meatworks closing in Australia, and put thousands out of work? Is there an increased risk of a BSE outbreak? What does this mean for our primary producers i.e. graziers and farmers? Will beef imports devastate Australia’s meat industry?
“The Australian cattle industry has competed effectively against imports in our domestic market for many years from a range of countries including the US prior to 2003. The small quantity of beef imports into Australia over time is testament to our competitiveness – and this will continue.” ~ Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA)
Why are we importing beef when Australian beef is of the highest quality and relatively cheap? It’s a double-edged sword. If we do uphold the ban on beef, Australia could be in violation of the WTO accord and subject to legal action. America and the EU may even implement their own ban on Aussi meat products. If we allow high risk beef products to our shores, we risk a potential bovine spongiform encephalopathy outbreak from a country who had or is still recovering from the epidemic. Supermarket chains with their already burgeoning profits can and will buy their meat/meat products for next to nothing from some countries and then charge exorbitant prices for same.
Coles, Woolworths to Shun End of Foreign Beef Ban
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Post CommentBullwinkleMuse
On March 15, 2010 at 3:46 pm
I don’t see the value in requiring any country to import that which it has already got in abundance domestically. The idea of free trade, in my opinion, should mean equality in supply and demand, as well as pricing.
Excellent work, Elle.
Belinda Dobie
On March 15, 2010 at 3:56 pm
You make excellent points.
tatikos
On March 15, 2010 at 3:59 pm
quite good and active decision of your gov.
i wish in greece we could do the same..we have everything we need , but we do not have active policy
Peter Cimino
On March 15, 2010 at 4:35 pm
Wow. What an incredible read. I had no idea about any of this stuff. The whole import / export thing never made sense to me especially importing something you have readily available. We do it in the U.S. as well. It’s just nuts. Awesome write though!
Bo Russo
On March 15, 2010 at 4:41 pm
Import /export has become uselesss compared to it’s original purpose.
STEVE666
On March 15, 2010 at 5:59 pm
Yeah, it’s strange that you import beef when you have more than enough already.
I knew someone once who worked in a abattoir and he’d tell some real horror stories about how sometimes a cow would come stumbling off the back of the lorry with its hind legs buckling and all but lingering on its last breath. Did they call a vet? No, because he may have uttered that terrifying line: not fit for human consumption. What they would do was fast-track the animal through and slaughter it quick before it died.
Now I bet that happens in any abattoir in any part of the world. It’s all about money.
As for whether we know what we’re eating? No, we haven’t a clue.
Great article, Elle, BTW.
Karen Gross
On March 15, 2010 at 6:15 pm
Great article. I agree – I think that we have found out how risky it is to import and export so much of the food that we consume. One infected animal or improperly maintained equipment at one plant could lead to recalls from where ever that product could have ended up. For food safety and to reduce our carbon footprint, we should be stocking our grocery shelves with as much local food as possible.
Canada’s beef industry has never quite recovered from the US ban a few years ago. Apparently we don’t have enough abattoirs in Canada to process our beef, so we were shipping live animals to the States and then buying back the meat. Ridiculous!
petercurtis97
On March 15, 2010 at 6:24 pm
hehehe Elle the business of imports/exports must have balance on the world market it goes beyond beef products money makes the world go round. As far as meat products go there are quality controls put in place before it reaches the consumer.
BradONeill
On March 15, 2010 at 6:37 pm
Isolationism does not work. Open the markets up and the prices will fall. As long as there isn’t any price fixing going on. And the mad cow disease is blown way out of proportion. you are probably more likely to be eaten by a crocodile than to die from mad cow disease.
Ps a few years ago one of the US fast food companies had their imported beef contaminated with kangaroo meat from australia so the screw ups go both directions.
Authoress Terry E. Lyle
On March 15, 2010 at 8:23 pm
Excellent points made, very informative.
deep blue
On March 15, 2010 at 8:34 pm
The bottomline here is that the politicians of whichever country get the meat they want and leave the low quality meats for the average citizens. I’m sorry that your country have her issues Elle, in the Philippines it could be far more complicated.
Alistair Briggs
On March 15, 2010 at 8:48 pm
Interesting stuff Elle, I agree with much of your sentiments here.
Precious Illusions
On March 15, 2010 at 8:54 pm
Well…I am not an Australian, but i can really relate to you Elle.A country should not kill its endogenous industry in the anme of free trade, and for some selfish gains.
Shamanz
On March 15, 2010 at 11:45 pm
The three chefs in that photo..masters around the kitchens or disguised assasins?
jamesjames7817
On March 15, 2010 at 11:53 pm
thnaks!
William J Felchner
On March 16, 2010 at 1:19 am
Beef. It’s what’s for dinner! That was a TV ad campaign here in the U.S., narrated by actor Sam Elliott. It looks as if you opened up quite a discussion here, Elle.
Congratulations to Duff D. Moss, who has managed to use the f-word as a noun, verb, adjective and adverb. As a result, Duff gets the Norman Mailer literary award for 2010. Poor Norman had been forced to use the word “fug” in his 1948 bestseller The Naked and the Dead.
Mila Marcos
On March 16, 2010 at 2:19 am
LMFAO Duff! I read something in the local paper about this and was a little confused myself. I’m glad Tony Burke got his head out of his arse. Another exceptionally good write Elle:)
qasimdharamsy
On March 16, 2010 at 3:25 am
Interesting post…well written…..
cardy
On March 16, 2010 at 7:54 am
A very interesting article great work.
oldster
On March 16, 2010 at 7:57 am
Your usual grand article Elle.
An open market has to be open, so despite it not being in everyones interest it has to be that way. I agree if you have all the apples you need then only import oranges. However if you export apples then you would have to allow apples to be imported.
Great read and have to agree with your sentiments.
As for the BSE scare, I think it was extremely faulty and cost Britain dearly.
Pete Marshall
On March 16, 2010 at 10:03 am
well written, informative piece. Your argument was well presented and has deffinately had an effect reading through the above comments.
intrerestingly enough we still try not to touch British beef over here because of the stigma surrounding it. So you can imagine the abundance of exports we must have waiting to go?
lillyrose
On March 16, 2010 at 10:42 am
great article. It just doesn’t make any sense but then when did a politician ever? I am glad I haven’t eaten meat since I was 9
Christine Ramsay
On March 16, 2010 at 3:22 pm
I haven’t eaten beef for years. My hubby won’t touch it since the outbreak. I can never understand why we need to export food which we need ourselves. A great write.
Christine
MCA
On March 17, 2010 at 3:33 am
good share
sambhafusia
On March 17, 2010 at 5:31 am
Great share..keep work on dear..
RS Wing
On March 17, 2010 at 8:27 am
It’s a bad industry standard to implement. It will hurt the farmers and the population if this get’s legislated. Why Beef? Australia has plenty of farmers breeding high quality bovine. Another screwed up political mess. If this happens, hopefully the politicians will catch a bad case of mad cow’s disease if they don’t already suffer from abuse of power. These types of ideas killed our dairy industry and farmers in NY. The state is littered with abandoned farms because of this very same ideaology. Too bad. Great social awareness article Elle.
shivaleen
On March 17, 2010 at 10:15 am
Intresting about Non vegetarian Diet
standingproud
On March 19, 2010 at 10:45 am
In or out what ever, just wish meat was cheaper so I could eat.
I am forced to to part veterinarian due to the outrageous prices of meat here.
Made cows disease to them grrrrr
You did a fantastic job here Elle,
rizzei
On March 21, 2010 at 8:27 am
nice share.. i’m becoming aware of things like these
TS Lewis
On March 22, 2010 at 10:15 am
Great Article. I must economics is not might strong suit, but your solution to buy from the local butcher sounds like the best option. Whenever I visit Down Under I will have to stop by for some BBQ.
Lee Ness
On March 26, 2010 at 9:05 am
Great article. yes, I agree with any country buying from local farmers help us all in the long run. Keeps the business where it belongs.
Thanks Lee ness
Carlos N Figueroa dot com
On December 22, 2010 at 10:55 am
Very good stuff. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and make us aware of things we ignore.