STATEMENT BY NCBA REGARDING FREE TRADE AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS WITH AUSTRALIA

Australia has asked the U.S. Trade Representative to begin trade negotiations with the U.S. The following is the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s statement regarding Free Trade Agreement negotiations with Australia:

“The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) will only support the United States entering into Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Australia if human and plant/animal health trade barrier issues are resolved and access to other beef markets is increased.

”The Government of Australia claims to have one of the most transparent human and plant/animal health risk assessment processes in the world, yet it constantly deviates from its official procedures, and invents new 'reviews' that endlessly delay import decisions.

“NCBA will not support increased access to the U.S. beef market until meaningful access and tariff reduction is achieved in other major beef importing countries. Too often in the past the U.S. has expanded access to beef from Cairns and FTAA countries only to watch U.S. interests be undermined as these same countries cut side deals to gain increased market access for their beef.

“The beef industry’s home market contains less than five percent of the world’s population and we are becoming increasingly dependent on the rest of the world to buy our products to ensure economic growth. On a tonnage basis, the U.S. exports nearly 10 percent of what we produce.

“The U.S. was the largest beef exporter in 2000, but we could export much more if other countries played by the same trade rules as the U.S. and access barriers were eliminated. Beef markets in other developed countries remain virtually closed to U.S. beef or protected by relatively high tariffs.”

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Producer-directed and consumer-focused, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association is the trade association of America’s cattle farmers and ranchers, and the marketing organization for the largest segment of the nation’s food and fiber industry.