China imposes regulatory hurdles on Australian Beef in 2018
Context
In 2018, Australian beef exporters criticised China for its failure to implement a chilled meat export protocol that was signed in 2015 based on the Chinese Australia Free Trade Agreement (CHAFTA).
There is relatively little information about this dispute, with the Meat and Livestock Association noting in its 2018 Market Snapshot that demand for beef was growing in China, and that CHAFTA reduced tariffs, but that nonetheless “there are ongoing technical market access issues” especially for chilled beef.
Australia considered that these difficulties were provoked by its critique of China’s growing engagement in the Pacific and voiced concerns in Australia about foreign interference by China in Australian politics.
Impact
According to reports in Australian media, the impact on the beef industry was $500 million.
Status
This incident was largely overtaken by subsequent events and the further deterioation of Australian-China relations in this period. See also BEEF AND SHEEPMEAT [AUSTRALIA – CHINA]
References
Sydney Morning Herald, ‘China freeze leaves exporters in the cold’ (16 May 2018), available at: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/china-freeze-leaves-exporters-in-the-cold-20180516-p4zfnb.html.
Financial Review, ‘Australian food exporters face regulatory roadblocks in China’ (11 November 2019), available at: https://www.afr.com/companies/agriculture/australian-food-exporters-face-regulatory-roadblocks-in-china-20191029-p535e2
Smith, M [2019] “Australian food exporters face regulatory roadblocks in China” Austrlaian Financial Review, available online at https://www.afr.com/companies/agriculture/australian-food-exporters-face-regulatory-roadblocks-in-china-20191029-p535e2
Sullivan, K. (2024) “Australian beef exports to China can resume after trade war suspension, minister says” (May 30) ABC News, available online at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-30/australian-beef-back-to-china-after-trade-war-suspensions/103911316
Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, ‘Protocol on Quarantine Requirements of Cattle Imported from Australia’ [关于自澳输入屠宰用牛的检疫和卫生要求议定书] (24 Jul. 2015), available in Chinese at: http://melbourne.mofcom.gov.cn/article/ztdy/201507/20150701058746.shtml
Varrall, M ‘Australia’s Response to China in the Pacific: From Alert to Alarmed’ in Graeme Smith and Terence Wesley-Smith (eds), The China Alternative: Changing Regional Order in the Pacific Islands (ANU Press, 2021) https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1h45mkn.7