Australia to maintain cattle trade relations with Indonesia
The pledge comes following the Cattle Council of Australia and Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) visiting Indonesia in September to inspect animal welfare, productivity and market access for Australian beef across the country.
Inspections included tours of Australian cattle in local feedlots, observing slaughter of Australian cattle under Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS)-approved conditions and seeing breeding programs that help Indonesia build its own beef capacity, using cattle from Australia.
The tour also included visiting retail outlets where Australian beef is sold alongside beef from other parts of the world.
Cattle Council of Australia’s CEO Margo Andrae said live exports continued to have great economic importance to the Australian cattle industry and were a critical avenue for ensuring Australian beef was accessible to consumers in economies such as Indonesia.
“The global success of Australian beef is the result of our industry meeting the diverse needs of different markets and customers. Live export gives us the ability to maximise and diversify our market access opportunities in an ethically and economically sustainable way,” said Andrae.
“Australia’s beef relationship with Indonesia draws so much of its enduring strength from the many different aspects of trade and long-term collaboration across our supply chains. Our time talking with lot feeders, smallholder breeders and other industry representatives made it clear that the appetite in Indonesia to continue to work with Australia remains very strong.”
Cattle Council of Australia revealed its cattle exports were performing strongly in 2018, with August cattle exports finishing just under 108,000 head, bringing the year-to-date total to 680,000 head, up 24% compared to last year’s volumes.
For Indonesia, year-to-August shipments from Australia were up 8% at 360,000 head.
