This week (March 15-21) is Australia’s first ever Bacon Week, a new initiative launched by the pork industry producer’s body, Australian Pork Limited (APL) to highlight the pink square Australian PorkMark - the only guaranteed way you can choose 100 per cent home grown and manufactured bacon. The theme for inaugural Bacon Week is “Bringing Home the Bacon”. This theme is designed to highlight the fact that the majority of pork used to make bacon sold in Australia was created... ...Read more »

After initially announcing that the ban on beef imports from BSE-affected countries would be repealed, the government has backflipped, with Agriculture Minister Tony Burke yesterday announcing that any change in the standing import policy on beef would come only after a lengthy analysis of beef exports. Vocal opposition by Liberal, Greens and independent senators appears to have led to the reversal of the decision. Despite expert opinions that US beef is free of BSE, the opposition maintains it’s... ...Read more »

Tangerine Confectionery, the UK sweets firm, wants to double export sales as it expands its business in Australia. The company has revealed its target for overseas sales after announcing it will sell Sherbet Fountains and Taveners Proper Sweets to Australian retailers including Coles. Australia is Tangerine’s largest export market and a spokesman told just-food that the company wants to build its business Down Under and in South Africa, Hong Kong and Canada. “We currently export about... ...Read more »

Federal Trade Minister Simon Crean has welcomed a breakthrough deal on banana imports into the European Union ending a dispute that has been running for 16 years.Mr Crean also welcomed a related agreement to provide deeper tariff cuts on the importation of tropical products into Europe, and other markets, which will benefit Australian exporters once the Doha Round is concluded. The minister said the deals on bananas and tropical products would generate much needed momentum towards concluding the... ...Read more »

Opposition Senators expressed concerms over the relaxation of Beef imports into Australia during a Senate Inquiry on Tuesday. Liberal Senator and Farmer Bill Heffernan raised his concern that Australian domestic beef producers were held to a stricter standard than foreign imports “These fellows today are telling Australia’s beef growers that they are going to accept a lesser standard than they have imposed on Australia,” he told the Inquiry yesterday. He also had fears that beef imports... ...Read more »

The banana trade dispute between the EU, parts of Latin America and US fruit companies has officially come to an end this afternoon (15 December) after a final agreement was published in Geneva. Disputes proceedings have been staged at the WTO on EU banana import protection since 1996, almost as long as the trade body has existed. Latin exporters and US-based fruit companies have been fighting the preferential access to EU markets given to bananas from the Caribbean, Africa and the Pacific, which... ...Read more »

The Australian Beef Association yesterday told the current Australian Senate inquiry into Beef Imports that the majority of local beef producers will continue to oppose changes to Australia’s beef import laws. The Association said that relaxation of current import laws raised concerns of imports being affected by Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) (Mad Cow Disease). As European countries began reporting outbreaks of BSE in 2001, Australia had implemented blanket restrictions on beef imports.... ...Read more »

Russia’s National Security Council is reportedly considering a ban on food imports in a bid to stimulate domestic production. With food production viewed as an issue of national security, Russian regulators would like the country to be self-sufficient in food production. According to local reports, the National Security Council has drawn up a Food Security Doctrine, which aims to see domestic producers control 95% of the grain market, 90% of the milk market and “no less” than 80%... ...Read more »

Bananas are expected to resist the impact of the global financial crisis more than other agricultural commodities, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization has said in a report.The UN agency predicts banana imports to decline slightly to 13.8 million tonnes in 2009, about 3.3% less than 2007. Banana imports by developed countries fell by 4.1%, 5.5% and 3.2% respectively. Developing countries on the other hand will continue to register an increase in demand for the fruit, with imports predicted... ...Read more »

Australia is adjusting its imported food policy settings for beef and beef products, with controversial changes to come into effect from 1 March, 2010.An update of the science of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), mad cow disease, and consideration of the risks associated with importing the beef and beef products was undertaken by Professor John Mathews to guide the alterations. Professor Mathews’ report concludes that the risk to human health from imported beef remains extremely low,... ...Read more »