Australia: Murray Watt’s Brazilian sheep meat export hopes a red herring

Published 2024년 7월 3일

Tridge summary

The Australian Minister for Agriculture, Murray Watt, has announced that Brazil has restored market access for Australian sheep meat, sheep meat products, and edible offal, a development that Watt suggests demonstrates the need for the Albanese Government's live sheep exports ban. However, this has been labeled a 'red herring' argument by Matt Dalgleish, with the Australian sheep meat industry facing significant challenges, including the WA flock likely to reduce by 30-40% over the next two years due to the phasing out of live exports. The industry is also seeking to expand its presence in markets such as the UK and EU, rather than Brazil, which is not a major market for Australian sheep meat.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

MINISTER for Agriculture Murray Watt’s touting of Brazil re-opening to Australian sheep meat imports as demonstrating why the Albanese Government is banning live sheep exports has been described as a “red herring.” On Tuesday, Mr Watt announced that Brazil has restored market access for Australian sheep meat, sheep meat products and edible offal. The trade was suspended in 2020, due to changes in Brazilian requirements, but the resumption gives access for Australian sheep meat producers to the 217 million people who live in Brazil, his office said. Mr Watt said this was a positive step forward for Australia’s growth in agricultural trade with Brazil and restored market access for sheep products opened news opportunities for the Australian sheep meat industry. At the end of a Victorian Country Hour interview discussing the passing of a law on Monday night to ban live sheep exports by sea from May 2028, Mr Watt said the Brazil development was “breaking news” and demonstrated why the ...

Source: Sheepcentral