WAFarmers welcomes today’s news that the Barnett government has signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese sister province Zhejiang, opening the door for potential live cattle exports to the region.
WAFarmers Meat Council President Jeff Murray said the agreement was a promising sign for the live cattle industry, which has faced significant challenges in the past two years.
“The live export market has fallen behind the processed and domestic markets recently, resulting in an oversupply of animals meaning producers have been receiving lower returns for their stock,” Mr Murray said.
“With these conditions, we welcome any developments which bolster market access for Australian producers and increase competition to ensure producers receive a better price for their product.
“These sorts of agreements are positive for both industry and export markets while providing a significant boost to the Western Australian economy.”
Mr Murray said it was important to remember this news signalled the early stages of the potential to export live cattle to China, and there was still much work to be done.
“We look forward to working with government to ensure live exports eventuate from the recently signed memorandum,” Mr Murray said.
“This presents an opportunity to share our standards of animal welfare and biosecurity with China, which they will still be obliged to abide by if our cattle are sent there.”
