News

Beef processors brace for China retaliation over diplomat spat

Fresh Whole Beef
China
Published Dec 10, 2021

Tridge summary

BEEF exporters are bracing for blowback over Australia's diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics to be hosted by China next year, with fears of more suspensions of processing plants supplying the valuable market. Seven processing plants, located across Queensland, NSW and Victoria, are locked out of the Chinese market, with little doubt the ongoing suspensions are linked to geopolitical tensions.

Original content

Industry insiders have drawn a direct link to the latest suspension, that of Australian Country Choice's Cannon Hill facility in Brisbane in October, with comments that were made only a week prior by former prime minister Tony Abbott in Taiwan around Beijing being a bully. The announcement this week that Australia would join the United States in not sending officials to the Beijing Winter Olympics in protest of human rights abuses is expected to have ripple effects on Australian agriculture. ALSO IN BEEF: While China has cited technical issues such as labelling and residue detection for slapping the bans on Australian plants, those type of issues are generally rectified quickly. Those suspended, some of them dating back to last year, have put in place corrective programs which have been audited by Australian authorities and the corresponding report supplied to China but the process of reopening access has stalled at that point. The Chinese Embassy in Canberra issued a statement ...
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