December 18, 2003

Australia To Consider Permitting Pork Imports

The Australian Senate Rural Affairs Committee will consider allowing imported pork into the country. It will soon hold an inquiry into the draft decision.

In August, Biosecurity Australia released a draft import risk analysis which cleared the way for cooked, cured or deboned pig meat imports, as long as countries met strict criteria with regard to disease management.

Currently there are eleven pending applications from countries wanting to export pork to Australia. Some of these countries include the United States, the European Union, Mexico, Korea and Brazil.

Shadow Agriculture Minister Gavan O'Connor says Labor initiated the inquiry because the pork industry has concerns about the disease risk.

"The industry does have an opportunity to put its case to Biosecurity Australia but we think the Senate Committee process is an appropriate place to get an independent assessment of the concerns that have been expressed. They are substantial; the diseases that could be brought into the industry are the ones that could devastate it."