Trade

Wins for beef in China deal: Cattle Council

Beef Central, 17/11/2014

Significant flow through opportunities for Australian beef producers exist with the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA), newly elected Cattle Council of Australia president Howard Smith said this afternoon.

The deal, which eliminates current tariffs on Australian beef over 9 years, will place Australian beef in a favourable position against competitors in this market.

Mr Smith said that the potential benefits that exist within this FTA for Australian producers are huge and congratulated Minister for Trade, Andrew Robb, on another great deal for Australian beef.

“ChAFTA will remove significant burden from the beef supply chain, in the form of removing tariffs currently imposed on chilled and frozen beef, live cattle and co-products, including offals and hides,” Mr Smith said.

“It will also provide more opportunities for Chinese consumers to develop a taste for Australian beef, by alleviating the inflated prices currently paid for Australian beef due to import tariffs.

“In terms of farm-gate returns, economic modelling [Centre for International Economics] suggests that beef prices are estimated to increase by 8 c/kg (dressed weight) above baseline level, should the current tariffs on beef be phased out to zero by 2024.

“There are also opportunities for increased farm-gate returns in the future through ensuring that producers are paid for the products they produce, including hides and offals,” Mr Smith said.

Source: Cattle Council of Australia

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