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Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce has signed off on key protocols that will clear the way for up to a million head of live cattle to be exported to China annually, opening up a major new market for Australian beef farmers.
Mr Joyce's approval of the health protocols on Monday comes just a week after Indonesia - another major market for Australian live cattle exports - announced it was dramatically reducing the number of cattle it will take.
Indonesia accounts for about 56 per cent of Australia's $1.3 billion live export market but announced it would only take 50,000 head of cattle this quarter, down from 250,000 for the same period in 2014 - a move that left beef farmers scrambling to find new markets.
But with approval given to the rules that will govern the health conditions of export feeder and slaughter cattle to China, a potentially massive new market will open up.
The deal is potentially worth between $1 billion to $2 billion annually to the economy, Mr Joyce said.
"I was very pleased today to sign the agreement …now it's over to my counterpart, Minister Zhi Shuping, to sign on the dotted line and finalise the agreement between our two nations," Mr Joyce said.
The first exports would take place next year and initially, about 40,000 to 50,000 head will be able to be exported.
Speaking to Fairfax Media, Mr Joyce said the agreement would open up the potentially massive Chinese market to Australian beef farmers and over eight to ten years, it would hopefully lead to up to a million cattle being supplied.
"I could not start with the numbers they wanted, in the past they have asked for a million a year but that is a target that we will build towards. We will start in the tens of thousands," he said.
"We do about 1.2 million head a year at the moment, we would need to double it."
The deal proved the government was making a difference for farmers, Mr Joyce said, and would mean the "long term prospect of better prices - we have a heap of buyers out there, we have record prices and we are going to keep it up".
Australian and Chinese veterinary authorities will now formalise an agreement on animal health certification requirements.
Australian Livestock Exporters' Council chief executive said the agreement on health conditions was a "major breakthrough for the Australian livestock export industry and significantly improves the market diversification options for Australian exporters and producers".
"Australia will be the first country to export feeder and slaughter cattle to China," she said.
"The true potential of the China market is something exporters are very keen to explore with a steady stream of quality cattle as soon as possible."
