A tenth Australian abattoir has been banned from exporting meat to China.
Meat processing giant Teys has been informed by Chinese authorities that its Naracoorte plant in South Australia which had a high-profile COVID-19 outbreak earlier in the year, has been temporarily suspended from exporting to China.
The General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China (GACC) issued the notice late on Friday night, banning shipments from Teys Naracoorte plant after January 29.
"This delisting is one of 138 that has occurred globally around the world since the middle of 2020," Global Agri-Trends analyst Simon Quilty said.
Media COVID coverage to blame
Mr Quilty said the export ban was the result of "trial by media" due to publicity around supply issues linked to COVID-19.
The highly respected analyst believed China had made its decision based on media reporting.
"This is the tenth plant in Australia to have lost its license, only the third one though related to this type of suspension, the other six or so have been due to technical reasons like poor paperwork or very, very minor details that probably do have a political bias towards that in terms of Australia's relations."
The Teys abattoir at Naracoorte processes 500 to 600 head of beef cattle per day and sends just five per cent of that meat into China.
In a statement, Teys Australia said the official notification did not provide a specific reason for the suspension.
"Teys will work closely with the Australian export market regulatory bodies to achieve reinstatement of the facility's access to China," spokesman, John Langbridge said in a statement.
"Teys' Naracoorte plant operates in full compliance with all state and federal, food safety, occupational health and safety and market access regulations, and continues to operate as normal."
China's Aussie export ban grows
Ten Australian abattoirs have now had their trade to China suspended since May 2020 which is substantial given 45 Australian meat establishments are listed for export to China according to the Department of Agriculture.
In October last year, Brisbane-based Australian Country Choice (ACC) had its China trade suspended.
In mid-2020, Kilcoy Pastoral Company, the JBS-owned Beef City, near Toowoomba and Dinmore and the Northern Cooperative Meat Company at Casino in New South Wales were also suspended.
Queensland abattoirs John Dee and Meramist followed.
And two Victorian abattoirs Australian Lamb Company and JBS Brooklyn were also delisted from selling meat to China when workers contracted COVID-19.
