May 3, 2011

Australia unaffected by South Korea's lifting of Canadian beef ban

Australia will not be adversely affected if South Korea decides to lift its ban on Canadian beef, beef exporting company Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) said.

South Korea had banned Canadian and US beef after an outbreak of mad cow disease in 2003, and allowed Australia to export to Korea, despite their 40% tariff on imported beef.

South Korea is Australia's third largest market, with Australia exporting AUD680 million (US$742 million) worth of beef to Korea last year, 18% more in value on the previous year.

MLA believes the re-entry of Canadian beef to the South Korean market will not damage Australia's beef trade. MLA's regional manager in Korea, Jim Lim, says MLA will increase the supply of cheaper beef for consumers.

"Koreans consume about 30 kg of pork per person and about 16 kg of beef per person, so in terms of the beef pie it is relatively small, and any competitor or another supplier into the market is only going to help us increase that beef pie, and that is what we want at the end of the day," said Lim.

MLA said it is unknown when the ban on Canadian beef imports will be lifted, but they believe it will happen this year.