BEEF processors affected by China’s suspension on imports over a labelling issue are showing remarkable patience, given the issue is estimated to be costing as much as a million dollars a day.
Extensive audits are complete on each of the six establishments to be slapped with the temporary ban in late July.
Conducted by senior veterinarians of the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, the audits have verified corrective actions taken to address non compliances.
The department has now confirmed that all establishments meet China’s importing country requirements and a report has been delivered to Chinese authorities outlining this.
“China noted they were appreciative of the (audit) report from the Australian government and they were working through it,” he said.
“Although it wasn’t resolved during this trip, China indicated that they hoped to be able to resolve this soon.”
Australian Meat Industry Council chief executive officer Patrick Hutchinson said the industry recognised Australia was not the only beef exporter to China and beef was not the only Australian product being exported to China.
AMIC was working hand-in-glove with diplomats and regulators to resolve the issue and would continue to advocate for an expedited resolution, he said.
“We are, however, cognizant of the fact Chinese regulators have a lot of different products from a lot of different countries under their watch and this will take as much time as is required.”