Australia                                  ...

Australia                                                                                    

Court Decides In Favor Of Pork Imports

In a decision released today (Sept. 16), the full bench of the Australian Federal Court has upheld the appeal of the Australian government’s Director of Quarantine against the earlier court judgment affecting the import of pork into Australia. Although APL could still appeal this to the High Court, this is a victory for U.S. pork exporters. The court not only upheld the appeal but ordered Australian Pork Limited (APL), the group which began the original court case, to pay the government’s costs.

Australia’s Director of Animal and Plant Quarantine, Joanna Hewitt, hailed the decision and said that “the effect of the Court’s decision is to reinstate the pig meat import permits set aside as a result of the earlier decision of the Court.”

Until 2004, the U.S. could only export cooked pork to Australia, but the market opened after a February 2004 risk assessment conducted by the Australian government reported that the likelihood of Post Weaning Multisystemic Wasting Syndrome (PMWS) being brought into the country through pork imports was negligible.

USMEF conducted a market assessment last year detailing the market potential. USMEF cooperated with the National Pork Board and the National Pork Producers Council in responses to the pork import risk assessment, which allowed the relaxation of some of Australia’s onerous pork import restrictions. The new Australian quarantine regulations, which were challenged in this court case by APL, were intended to tighten controls on pork imports, but allow imports from more countries. The first shipment of uncooked U.S. pork arrived in Australia in late October 2004. Although the new rules have significantly increased U.S. pork exports to Australia — in the first seven months of 2005, U.S. pork (including variety meat) exports to Australia are up 1,039 percent from 1,363 metric tons (mt) to 15,526 mt — they still prevent pork exports to retailers and restaurants. The remaining Australian restrictions are based on concerns, considered groundless by the United States, about the transmissibility of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) and PMWS. Supposed fears of this latter disease were the ostensible reason behind the APL court action.

Australia                                                                                    

Court Decides In Favor Of Pork Imports

In a decision released today (Sept. 16), the full bench of the Australian Federal Court has upheld the appeal of the Australian government’s Director of Quarantine against the earlier court judgment affecting the import of pork into Australia. Although APL could still appeal this to the High Court, this is a victory for U.S. pork exporters. The court not only upheld the appeal but ordered Australian Pork Limited (APL), the group which began the original court case, to pay the government’s costs.

Australia’s Director of Animal and Plant Quarantine, Joanna Hewitt, hailed the decision and said that “the effect of the Court’s decision is to reinstate the pig meat import permits set aside as a result of the earlier decision of the Court.”

Until 2004, the U.S. could only export cooked pork to Australia, but the market opened after a February 2004 risk assessment conducted by the Australian government reported that the likelihood of Post Weaning Multisystemic Wasting Syndrome (PMWS) being brought into the country through pork imports was negligible.

USMEF conducted a market assessment last year detailing the market potential. USMEF cooperated with the National Pork Board and the National Pork Producers Council in responses to the pork import risk assessment, which allowed the relaxation of some of Australia’s onerous pork import restrictions. The new Australian quarantine regulations, which were challenged in this court case by APL, were intended to tighten controls on pork imports, but allow imports from more countries. The first shipment of uncooked U.S. pork arrived in Australia in late October 2004. Although the new rules have significantly increased U.S. pork exports to Australia — in the first seven months of 2005, U.S. pork (including variety meat) exports to Australia are up 1,039 percent from 1,363 metric tons (mt) to 15,526 mt — they still prevent pork exports to retailers and restaurants. The remaining Australian restrictions are based on concerns, considered groundless by the United States, about the transmissibility of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) and PMWS. Supposed fears of this latter disease were the ostensible reason behind the APL court action.