August 2, 2010

Australia's beef sector seeks stricter beef rules

The Australian Beef Association wants the government to impose tougher labelling requirements for beef from older cattle, which is currently labelled as "budget."

The Australian Beef Association says the New South Wales Government has bowed to pressure from supermarkets about new meat labelling laws.

The association's director, John Carter, says many consumers do not understand that "budget" beef is poor quality meat best suited to slow cooking. He says an initial proposal to label older beef "low grade" has been watered down and will instead be labelled "economy".

"In the United States, Canada, Japan and South Korea they all have grading systems where the consumer knows and pays more for the really good beef from the younger cattle that have been well finished. But here in Australia we haven't got that and really we're about 50 years behind the rest of the world. I think we're going backwards by going from 'budget' to 'economy. I mean it's just playing with silly words and they're just not prepared to bite the bullet," he said.

The state's Primary Industries Minister, Steve Whan, has been unavailable for comment but a spokeswoman says he will announce the new labelling requirements next week.