Australia initiates training programme for Indonesian beef industry professionals

The University of New England (UNE) will be training thirty professionals from the Indonesian beef industry to help them understand the operational standards of the Australian beef production industry.

The training is a part of the initiative funded by the Indonesia-Australia Partnership on Food Security under the Australia Awards programme.

ABC News quoted course leader, Professor John Gibson as saying that since 2011, the two countries have been participating in efforts to improve trade in the beef industry when Australia had temporarily imposed a ban on live exports to Indonesia.

"It was an initiative from both sides to rebuild goodwill and better understanding after the live trade ban and the severe consequences for both countries of that ban. There’s been a lot of work behind the scenes on both sides to come up with a way of working together.

"The goal is to make sure we have a good relationship with each other at the country level and a better understanding to avoid such problems in the future," said Gibson.

The ban was imposed after inspection of Indonesia’s slaughterhouses found animals being whipped, beaten and slashed before being sent to be slaughtered.

While Australia had initially banned only 12 abattoirs where evidence of mistreatment of animals was found, mounting public pressure eventually led to a complete ban.

The current training is expected to improve trade relations and opportunities in the beef sector between the two countries.

"The more the industry operates professionally in Indonesia and the larger that industry is, the opportunities for trade grow.

"Helping Indonesia build a strong, sustainable industry, given the very large and growing demand for beef, can only be good for our industry and our trade with Indonesia."

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Image: The iniative comes after Indonesia’s beef industry was banned by Australia in 2011. Photo: courtesy of Stoonn/freedigitalphotos.net.