MEDIA RELEASE
Wellard congratulates the Australian Government and Trade Minister Andrew Robb on the successful negotiation of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA).
“Negotiation of the ChAFTA is of utmost importance for the whole agriculture sector, and specifically for the farmers and businesses that rely on the live export trade,” Wellard Managing Director Mauro Balzarini said.
“This Free Trade Agreement, combined with soon to be agreed health protocol for slaughter and feeder cattle, has the potential to grow farm gate returns for a large number of Australian farmers.
“Exporters to China are receiving strong demand for quality food, and specifically for red meat. Our company is approached regularly by Chinese interests to supply this important market.”
The ChAFTA provides a number of benefits to Wellard and its partners:
- Elimination of all tariffs on live animal exports within four years, including the 10 per cent tariff on live cattle (pure-bred breeding cattle already enter China duty free).
- Elimination of the tariffs on sheepmeat (currently ranging from 12 to 23 per cent) within 8 years.
- Elimination of the 18 per cent tariff on frozen sheepmeat offal within 7 years.
“We are very excited about China’s potential and its strong demand for cattle and sheep, both live and boxed,” Mr Balzarini said.
“Wellard will carefully study FTA before predicting the impact on Wellard business, but the indications are that it will be very positive for most of our divisions, considering that we are already a significant player in the country and we expect demand for livestock, meat and grains to grow.
“Already Wellard’s vertically integrated structure, which covers farming, feeding, processing, shipping and marketing has proven to be of interest to potential Chinese companies which are looking to establish supply chains.”
Wellard plans continue to develop the Chinese market sustainably, alongside its other Asian markets including Indonesia and Vietnam, and to continue to strengthen relationships with existing customers.
“In time I expect Wellard will have a significant presence in China in downstream processing to ensure the maintenance of animal welfare standards and product quality,” Mr Balzarini said.
For further information please contact:
Cameron Morse
Phone: + 61 8 9485 8888
Mobile: +61 (0) 433 886 871
Website: www.wellard.com.au