The 2005 implementation of a mandatory traceability system for Australian cattle has helped secure Asian markets that are the core of the industry’s crucial export strategy, says an Australian veterinary official.
“We have good market access to Asian markets and a big factor is our traceability system,” Rob Williams, counsellor for agriculture and veterinary issue at Australia’s Washington embassy, said in a July 16 interview.
Japan is Australia’s largest market with purchases last year of 330,000 tonnes. South Korea is the third largest customer with purchases of 120,000 tonnes. Both markets prefer traceability in imports.
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Canadian agriculture minister Gerry Ritz has justified the move to mandatory traceability by arguing Canada risks losing markets to countries like Australia that have moved faster.
For Australia, the system had a long gestation period.
Williams said the first seeds for the Australian system were planted in the 1960s when a program of livestock premises registration was started as part of a battle to eradicate tuberculosis and other herd diseases.
Then in the 1990s, a tainted feed incident that left a residue in the meat became a marketing problem and as an export-dependent industry, cattle producers began to consider a tougher traceability system.
“That really led to a push for a whole-life system,” he said. “The government may see it as a disease control measure but for the industry, it really is about market access.”
