June 28, 2005

Australian beef unlikely to be hit by US mad cow case

It is unlikely that beef exports from Australia will be affected by the discovery of a second case of mad cow disease in the US said Bill Bray, president of the Cattle Council of Australia.

However, the reaction of consumers in Australia's three biggest beef export markets, Japan, United States and South Korea, will be difficult to predict. It seems possible that exports will continue as normal, Bray said.

Nonetheless, he said the discovery could be negative for the global beef industry as it can sap consumer confidence and lead them to question the safety of beef in general.

In December 2003, after the first case of the disease was found in the US and many nations banned all US beef imports, demand in the US for beef rose surprisingly, further increasing demand there for Australian produce.

Japan, the US and South Korea now account for more than 90 percent of Australian beef exports. Australian beef exports in May rose 13 percent from a year earlier to 90,712 tonnes, the highest level for the month of May. Total exports for the first five months of 2005 was at 374,108 tonnes, up 10 percent from year-earlier period.