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Sky News AU
11 minutes ago
- Sky News AU
Coalition demands answers after Albanese government lifts biosecurity restrictions on US beef imports
The Albanese government is being urged to explain its backflip on a US beef ban after the Prime Minister previously insisted Labor would not 'compromise' on biosecurity. The Australian Financial Review revealed on Thursday that Australian officials had notified their US counterparts that restrictions on the importation of US beef will be lifted following a scientific review of the biosecurity risks. Responding to the reports on Thursday, Nationals Senate Leader Bridget McKenzie said the decision could pose a risk to our beef industry. 'We need to make sure our $11 billion beef export industry is protected. Our concerns would be any watering down of those science-based protocols would lead the risk of disease, entering this country, and our farmers, being subjected to unnecessary risk,' Ms McKenzie said. Shadow finance minister James Paterson said the government needed to explain its backflip. 'The prime minister himself has said that we couldn't relax the restrictions on the importation of US beef because of serious biosecurity concerns," Mr Paterson told Sky News. "So if the government has found some way of dealing with that issue, protecting our domestic agricultural industry from the introduction of foreign diseases and pests, then they should say so they should stand up and explain that, not anonymously leak it to a newspaper. 'Full credit to the AFR for getting the story, but a major story like this affecting a major export industry of about $11 billion a year and about an $82 billion domestic industry, when you include red meat more broadly, deserves more answers than this.' The restrictions had been cited by President Donald Trump as a justification for his decision to impose a 10 per cent across the board tariff on Australian imports – as well as much larger tariffs on steel and aluminium – in violation of the existing Australia-US free trade agreement. 'Australia bans – and they're wonderful people, and wonderful everything – but they ban American beef,' President Trump said in April In response to the comments, Prime Minister Albanese emphatically declared his government 'will not change or compromise any of the issues regarding biosecurity, full stop, exclamation mark, it's simply not worth it. So it's that simple.' A blanket ban on US beef imports - imposed following a mad cow disease in 2003 - was repealed in 2019. However biosecurity rules have remained in place due to the risk of beef from countries such as Mexico and Canada being imported through the US, and no American beef has been imported under the new scheme. But a government source told the AFR on Thursday that the US Beef Imports Review had undertaken a 'rigorous science and risk-based assessment over the past decade' and the bans would be lifted. Agriculture Minister Julie Collins confirmed the report, saying in a statement that her department was "satisfied the strengthened control measures put in place by the US effectively manage biosecurity risks.' However Cattle Australia CEO Will Evans said he was sure the decision would not have been made unless scientific experts had the 'utmost confidence' it would not impose a risk to Australia's cattle industry. 'Context is important here. We export more than $4 billion of beef a year to the US, and this has been a multi-year assessment process undertaken by the Department of Agriculture - they're the competent authority in this, and they're required to assess this under a rules based trading system. 'What they've done is they've completed a technical scientific assessment, and they've said, look, there are the right processes in place in these countries to be able to manage these risks, and they've determined that they're going to grant access after making this assessment over many years. 'Now, the cattle industry is a $75 billion industry in Australia. I'm sure they wouldn't have made this decision unless they had the utmost confidence that the science was correct.'
ABC News
11 minutes ago
- ABC News
Australia lifts biosecurity restrictions on US beef
Australia has lifted biosecurity restrictions on beef imports from the United States, one of the key grievances that led the Trump administration to impose tariffs on Australia. ABC NewsRadio's Sarah Morice spoke to John McKillop, the Chair of the Red Meat Advisory Council, about what the changes will mean for Australia's beef exports.
9 News
41 minutes ago
- 9 News
Australia lifts ban on US beef imports
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here Australia has lifted remaining bans on beef imports from the US as the ongoing battle to secure an exemption from Donald Trump's tariff regime continues. Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth confirmed on Today that a decade-long review into the imports of US beef had been completed. "That review has been undertaken and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry believe that there are the right controls in place in the US to lift that ban," she said. Imports of beef from the US will be permitted after a government review. (Getty) "My understanding is that will be lifted as a result of a decade-long review." That source emphasised that Australia's biosecurity would remain uncompromised by the change, a stance Rishworth also took. Donald Trump announces his global tariffs in April. (Nine) "We are not we are not compromising on biosecurity. I need to make that very clear," she said. "We believe in free and fair trade. And our farmers very much benefit from being able to export their products right around the world." The revelation comes ahead of US President Donald Trump's proclaimed August 1 deadline for increased blanket tariffs on imports to the US. There are fears for Australia's biosecurity. (Getty Images/iStockphoto) Australia is currently subjected to a baseline 10 per cent tariff on all US exports, including beef, with a 50 per cent tariff on steel and aluminium. Trump has also threatened to increase the tariff on imported pharmaceuticals to 200 per cent. The baseline tariff could as much as double to 20 per cent on the August 1 deadline, Trump warned in recent weeks. In April, when rolling out his "Liberation Day" tariff plan, Trump singled out Australian beef. "Australia bans – and they're wonderful people, and wonderful everything – but they ban American beef," he said then. "Yet we imported $US3 billion of Australian beef from them just last year alone. "They won't take any of our beef. "They don't want it because they don't want it to affect their farmers and you know, I don't blame them but we're doing the same thing right now starting at midnight tonight, I would say." A ban on beef imports from the US was put in place more than 20 years ago after an outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, which can lead to fatal brain disease in humans. The blanket ban was lifted in 2019 for cattle raised and slaughtered in the US, but remained for cattle that had been raised in Canda and Mexico, but slaughtered in and exported from the US. It's those latter bans which have now been lifted, after the review reportedly found the US had improved its tracking protocols. Trade tariffs agriculture Australia national USA World CONTACT US
