Trade

Heightened E.coli testing a barrier to US beef trade

Beef Central 19/09/2012

 

Some Australian exporters are avoiding trade into the US, for fear of recently elevated testing protocolsWhile beef exports to the US in 2012 have been running well above last year’s record lows, contrary to some expectations, manufacturing beef shipments have fallen month-on-month up to August, from their peak back in March.

March manufacturing beef shipments to the US reached 20,021 tonnes, or around 75 percent of the total US trade for the month. Since then, however, volumes have steadily dropped, reaching only 10,735t in August, or 64pc of total shipments.

While this year’s US drought and consequent US liquidation of beef and dairy cows has obviously contributed to the recent decline in trade, another reason has been mounting uncertainty over the US’s new, more comprehensive E. coli regulatory testing program, required for trade into the US market.

Since the new protocols were introduced on June 4, some Australian exporters have elected not to ship grinding meat to the US, until greater certainty is restored. The protocols have attracted widespread criticism, both within and outside the US.  

Earlier this year, exporters were warned by insurers about the need for rejection coverage on meat shipments to the US after June 4, given the greatly heightened risk of E.coli detections following the US decision to test for six additional forms of E.coli from that date. The new testing protocols now cover six Shiga-toxin producing E. coli’s, in addition to the major target O157 variant.

The new testing requirements could trigger rejections which could strain the financial resources of individuals in the trade, exporter stakeholders were warned back in April.

One insurer suggested all meat exporters trading into the US should ensure that they lock-in a competitive premium for ‘what could be a bumpy ride in the next 12 months’ and ensure that their policy included rejection cover for microbiological organisms such as E. coli.

AQIS representatives will visit the US next week to discuss with US authorities the outcomes of the new non-O157 testing program and the Australian testing protocol.

The AQIS visit will be followed by an AMIC exporter delegation involving JBS’s John Berry, Teys Australia’s Tom Maguire and AMIC’s Dr John Langbridge.

They will meet with Washington-based government officials and non-government organisations and consumer lobby groups, followed by meetings with US industry in Chicago and US importers at the Meat Importers CounciI of America’s annual conference, to convey the message about the Australian testing program.

Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has developed a sample lot test and hold program for the detection of E.coli 0157:H7 for product destined to the US. The US’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has so far determined that the DAFF program has equivalence with that used in the US.

“The visit is about gaining assurance over equivalence between the Australian and US systems,” Mr Berry said.

“The industry has been undertaking testing on the non-STECs, and will present results to FSIS on how Australia proposes to manage the process going forward to ensure equivalence with the US testing regime,” he said.

The process is based on Australia’s in-plant and AQIS verification systems.

The AQIS/industry delegations will also seek to gain a clear understanding about how any point-of-entry issues will be handled, and more specifically, whether they will be contained to a lot size, if they occur in the US.

Major packers in Australia supplying the US market have gone through a voluntary 90-day testing program, supported by an AQIS verification testing process. It is the outcomes from this program that will form the basis of AQIS’s meetings and presentations next week, as a follow-up to point-of-entry issue meetings held earlier this year.

The AQIS team will present the data they have collected, along with industry data, to demonstrate that Australia has a system which provides equivalence to the US process.

A series of seminars were conducted from late August across Australia by the Australian Meat Industry Council, in cooperation with MLA and AQIS, to bring processors up to date with the latest developments on the issue.

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