Australia: The beef byproduct that could soon deliver millions via the new China protocol

Australia is very close to securing a protocol for the trade of beef tripe to China, which could be worth as much as $400 million a year, government trade regulators have revealed. Negotiations on a tripe deal with China have been happening for almost 20 years but the the assistant secretary of meat exports in the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Christine Mulhearn told a cattle producer day near Tamworth last week "it looks like we are about to get the deal done." Tripe is offal that comes from the stomach lining of a beast that requires long cooking and is extremely nutrient-dense. Ms Mulhearn said it formed a big part of China's food security strategy and the need for more tripe in China at the moment was very strong. "That's $400m a year on a product we don't get a lot of money for now so it's a big deal," she said. Ms Mulhearn's branch provides inspection, verification and certification services to the export meat industry. Speaking at the event hosted by ...