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New Australian agricultural exporters are facing “regulatory roadblocks” into China, with delays in new licence approvals for dairy and beef producers.

According to a report in the Australian Financial Review, existing licences are said to be unaffected, however the concern lies in securing registration for new products coming on to the Chinese market for the first time.

Australian Meat Industry Council (AMIC) CEO Patrick Hutchinson told Food & Drink Business: “At this stage what we can say is that Australia, both government and industry, has provided all necessary information and that China is progressing through the information.

“This has been occurring for some time but as we are strong trading partners, we have every faith that this process will be concluded soon.”

Hutchinson said that current negotiations are progressing the opportunity for frozen beef and sheepmeat products, as well as sending tripe to China – “a highlight sought-after product” – depending on the output from an approved plant.

In October, AMIC signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the China Meat Association, underlining a commitment for Australian and Chinese meat sector collaboration and to “secure trade outcomes that are beneficial to all parties”.

Hutchinson said such shared agreements are a “collective approach to a single industry”.

“These MoUs, signed with the China Meat Association and CFNA (Chinese Chamber of commerce of foodstuffs and native produce) allows the Australian industry to have information sharing agreements within China, along with opportunities to manage delegations from each country, understand changing regulations more expediently and just really have a closer relationship Association to Association (A2A) that goes hand in hand with Business to Business (B2B) and Government to Government (G2G)) relationships,” Hutchinson told F&DB.

To the end of September, Australia has sent more than 200,000 tonnes of beef and 100,000 tonnes of sheepmeat to China.

“We are the leading agricultural exporting industry in Australia and we are the largest trade exposed manufacturing industry in Australia. Our success is the economy’s success and our success is Regional Australia’s success,” said Hutchinson.

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