Australia lifts US beef ban, prompting international scrutiny

The Australian government on Wednesday lifted its ban on U.S. beef imports that it had imposed due to concerns about mad cow disease.

The decision led to worldwide headlines asking if Australia had reached the decision in order to engage with Trump on trade negotiations.

Australian Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said the department had undertaken a “rigorous science and risk-based assessment” and was now “satisfied” that the United States is managing any biosecurity threats, the BBC reported.

“This decision has been purely based on science,” she said in a statement. “The Albanese Labor government will never compromise on biosecurity.”

But the Australian opposition suggested the government may have done just that.

“It looks as though [the ban has] been traded away to appease Donald Trump, and that’s what we don’t want,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “I want to see the science.”

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a news release, “American farmers and ranchers produce the safest, healthiest beef in the world. It’s absurd that non-scientific trade barriers prevented our beef from being sold to consumers in Australia for the last 20 years. Gone are the days of putting American farmers on the sidelines. This is yet another example of the kind of market access the president negotiates to bring America into a new golden age of prosperity, with American agriculture leading the way.” 

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association thanked Trump “for delivering yet another trade win for America’s cattle farmers and ranchers.”

“For 20 years, U.S. beef was denied access to Australia while Australia exported $29 billion of beef to U.S. consumers. The lack of two-way, science-based trade has been a sticking point for many years, and we are pleased that President Trump has successfully opened the Australian market to American beef,” said NCBA President Buck Wehrbein, a Nebraska cattleman. “NCBA has spent decades working to correct this trade imbalance, and we are proud to have a president who is willing to fight for American farmers and ranchers, expand export markets, and fix unfair trade agreements across the world.”

NCBA explained, “The U.S.-Australia Free Trade Agreement took effect in 2005 and was intended to allow U.S. beef to be sold in Australia. Over the last 20 years, Australia has used countless tactics to delay implementation of the agreement and prevent any shipments of fresh or frozen U.S. beef from entering Australia. Over the same 20-year period, Australia has sold $28,759,340,461 worth of their beef in the United States.”

The Australian government said a review concluded that “the biosecurity risks associated with importing fresh (chilled or frozen) beef and beef products derived from bovines born and raised in Canada or Mexico, and legally imported and slaughtered in the United States for export to Australia, can be effectively managed to meet Australia’s Appropriate Level of Protection.”