Australia’s Meat and Livestock Association’s (MLA) cattle industry projections for 2012, released on 23 January 2012, provide a comprehensive outlook on the Australian cattle industry, including national herd, cattle and beef supply, and export numbers. Projections for 2012: Continued strong demand from a diverse range of global markets combined with favourable seasons will drive an expansion in Australian meat production and exports Australian beef and veal production is forecast to reach a... ...Read more »

Total Australian beef and veal production for 2012 is forecast to reach a record 2.197 million tonnes, according to Meat & Livestock Australia. According to Meat & Livestock Australia’s Chief Economist Tim McRae, the predicted 2.2 per cent increase from 2010’s production volume is a result of continued strong demand from an increasingly diverse range of global markets. Total beef exports are predicted to increase, driven by expansion into Russia, the Middle East and most southern Asian... ...Read more »

Latest figures from Australia’s Federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry show that the volume of beef exported to Japan during 2011 was the lowest since 2003. Japan is the largest destination of Australian beef exports. Australia sent 30,202 tonnes of beef to Japan in December 2011, taking the annual total to 342,186 tonnes. This was four per cent less than the amount exported in 2010. According to Meat & Livestock Australia, Australian beef exports have been impacted by the... ...Read more »

One of Australia’s certifiers of ‘free-range’ egg, beef and pork farms has lodged a complaint with the Australia Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) over the labelling of Primo pork products as ‘RSPCA Free Range.’ The certifying organisation, Humane Choice, claims the RSPCA’s certification of the Primo pork products does not meet consumer expectation of ‘free range’ products, and that the brand is endorsed as free range by the RSPCA, and that the label is ‘misleading’. RSPCA... ...Read more »

Woolworths has become the first national supermarket to offer certified Meat Standards Australia (MSA) graded Australian beef to customers. Woolworths has been working with Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) for over a decade on developing the MSA grading system. MSA is an industry audited program that delivers an eating quality guarantee. The grading system has been developed following years of research and more than 550,000 consumer product tests on 78,500 cuts of meat, using eight cooking methods. MSA... ...Read more »

A Sydney butcher who used illegal additives to make meat appear more appealing has been fined over A$9,000 by the Chief Industrial Magistrates Court, relating to four offences under the New South Wales Food Act. New South Wales Food Authority’s Acting CEO, Craig Sahlin, said the court’s decision to fine Abdul Hassan, trading as Green Valley Halal Meats a total of A$9,000 plus costs was a stern reminder to those who flout food safety laws. An officer from the NSW Authority visited Green Valley... ...Read more »

The announcement yesterday by the Indonesian Government of drastic cuts to the live cattle export quota from Australia in 2012 should come as no surprise. The Australia Government and its industry partner Meat & Livestock Australia (the MLA) have been providing technical assistance to Indonesia’s growing beef feedlot industry for some time. The Indonesian Government has announced it is halving the quota of Australia’s live cattle exports to 280,000 cows in 2012. Indonesia intends to shut... ...Read more »

A new Meat Standards Australia (MSA) symbol that identifies beef that has met an independent consumer standard for tenderness, juiciness and flavour, has been rolled out to butchers and fresh food retailers across Australia. Featuring Australia’s traditional colours, the green and gold ‘MSA graded’ symbol will be positioned as a quality mark, indicating that brands have been graded to meet MSA standards. The MSA grading system was developed by the beef industry in 1999. Nearly 90,000 consumers... ...Read more »

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled that current U.S. Country of Origin Labelling (CoOL) measures are inconsistent with the U.S.’s WTO trade obligations. The WTO had examined complaints by Canada regarding the United States’ current CoOL requirements. The U.S. Food, Conservation and Energy Act imposes mandatory CoOL for beef, pork, chicken, lamb and goat as well as some perishables sold by U.S. retailers. The WTO ruled that the requirements discriminate against foreign livestock. In... ...Read more »

A national standard for the amount of time allowed between the last feed and slaughter of bobby calves in Australia has been agreed to by the main players in the Australian dairy industry. Bobby calves are the young male calves which are slaughtered for human consumption every year. They are the bi-product of the dairy industry as milking cows must be impregnated to lactate each year and the male calves are eliminated since they cannot produce milk. The industry decision came after Primary Industries... ...Read more »