One of Australia's top meat industry bodies says the impact of overturning the ban on US beef imports is likely to be "minimal" and backed the biosecurity expertise behind the decision.
Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth confirmed onToday that a decade-long review into the imports of US beef had been completed, following US President Donald Trump's complaints about Australian beef exports.
"That review has been undertaken and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry believe that there are the right controls in place in the US to lift that ban," she said.
"My understanding is that will be lifted as a result of a decade-long review."
Meat and Livestock Australia managing director Michael Crowley said in a statement that there was "unlikely" to be any adverse effect on Australian cattle producers.
"The potential for US beef to be imported into Australia in large volumes is minimal, given the high demand for beef in the US, the low US cattle herd, the strength of the Australian dollar, our competitive domestic supply, and most importantly Australians' strong preference for high-quality, tasty and nutritious Australian beef," he said.
"Australia produces approximately three times more beef than needed to feed our population. Around 70 per cent of our production is exported to global markets."
He said US demand for Australian beef continued to grow, up 24 per cent year-on-year in June, despite a 10 per cent tariff already in place.
The removal of the ban was first reported by theAustralian Financial Review, quoting an anonymous government source.
That source emphasised that Australia's biosecurity would remain uncompromised by the change, a stance Rishworth also took.
"We are not we are not compromising on biosecurity. I need to make that very clear," she said.
"We believe in free and fair trade. And our farmers very much benefit from being able to export their products right around the world."
Crowley said the MLA supported "science-based decisions".
"The Australian government decision to permit beef imports from the United States and Canada follows a comprehensive risk assessment, ensuring that all biosecurity protocols and import conditions meet Australia's high standards," he said.
"The finalised federal government health certification and import permit conditions reflect stringent safeguards to prevent the introduction of exotic diseases and uphold the integrity of Australia's biosecurity system."
The revelation comes ahead of US President Donald Trump's proclaimed August 1 deadline for increased blanket tariffs on imports to the US.
Australia is currently subjected to a baseline 10 per cent tariff on all US exports, including beef, with a 50 per cent tariff on steel and aluminium.
Trump has also threatened to increase the tariff on imported pharmaceuticals to 200 per cent.
The baseline tariff could as much as double to 20 per cent on the August 1 deadline, Trump warned in recent weeks.
In April, when rolling out his"Liberation Day" tariff plan, Trump singled out Australian beef.
"Australia bans – and they're wonderful people, and wonderful everything – but they ban American beef," he said then.
"Yet we imported $US3 billion of Australian beef from them just last year alone.
"They won't take any of our beef.
"They don't want it because they don't want it to affect their farmers and you know, I don't blame them but we're doing the same thing right now starting at midnight tonight, I would say."
A ban on beef imports from the US was put in place more than 20 years ago after an outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, which can lead to fatal brain disease in humans.
The blanket ban was lifted in 2019 for cattle raised and slaughtered in the US, but remained for cattle that had been raised in Canda and Mexico, but slaughtered in and exported from the US.
It's those latter bans which have now been lifted, after the review reportedly found the US had improved its tracking protocols.
Australia exported nearly $3 billion in beef in 2023, with the United States the biggest market.
