Aussie exports to China to increase

Live exports from Australia to China will expand after a new protocol for the export of sheep and goats was announced earlier this month. New conditions were also agreed to for exports of bovine, sheep and goat semen in agreements signed in Sydney between the Australian Department of Agriculture and Chinese officials. A new export protocol for live feeder and slaughter sheep and goats was flagged as a priority for both countries earlier this year. China is already Australia’s largest sheep meat market. Australia’s Assistant Agriculture Minister Luke Hartsuyker said the new agreements would be “of real value to some of Australia’s most significant agricultural industries.” “I am pleased that we are supporting further growth for this important trade with one of our most significant trading partners, through the negotiation of these new protocols,” he said in a statement. Under the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, tariffs on live slaughter and feeder cattle and live slaughter sheep have fallen from 10 percent to 4 percent. The tariff will reduce to zero by January 2019. — WLJ