Australia Resumes Meat Exports to China

CANBERRA/SYDNEY (Reuters) – China has lifted trade restrictions on two Australian meat processing facilities, allowing the full resumption of red meat exports to the country, the Australian government announced on Tuesday.

Beijing has now removed restrictions from all 10 Australian abattoirs it banned between 2020 and 2022.

The bans were imposed around the time that China blocked imports of commodities including coal, barley, and wine from Australia after Canberra called for an independent investigation into the origin of COVID-19.

Most of these restrictions have been retracted since the new government took office in Canberra in 2022, with trade in lobster, the last banned product, expected to restart by year-end.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared, "This is great news for Australian exporters, producers, and farmers," in a statement.

"Since we were elected, we've worked tirelessly to resume trade, and that's exactly what we are seeing. It's a win for trade and a win for Australian jobs."

China is the second-largest market for Australian beef and veal after the United States, importing around 200,000 metric tons a year valued at approximately $1.5 billion, according to Australian trade data.

Although the abattoirs were banned, Australia continued to ship beef to China as other processors were not affected by those restrictions.

Australian beef exports have surged this year as the country fills the void left by lower U.S. production, although most of the increase has been in shipments to the United States and Japan.