Australia to implement new definition for lamb by 2019
Allan Piggott, SPA president, said in a statement that producers will not have their lamb assessed according to the new definition in the next period.
"Our advice at the moment is that this will probably take about 12 months, so we would be hopeful to have everything in place for the spring of 2019," added Mr. Piggott.
The decision was based on the majority of feedback provided during a nine-week public consultation phase in which 83% of respondents to an industry survey supported the change.
“The new definition will even the playing field against New Zealand in our export markets and provide producers with an indicator before they incur the ‘price cliff face’ of lamb being downgraded to hogget or mutton. The current definition means that as soon as eruption is evident, the animal becomes classed as mutton, and results in a lower price," Mr. Piggott said. “Market access risk from adopting the New Zealand lamb definition was proven to be minimal. The interim report’s findings have been further verified by MLA’s International Business Managers, various Australian exporters and international importers."
The lamb definition review is part of the broader ‘Fit for Purpose Language Program’ being undertaken by SPA. The program aims to enable the introduction of meat and livestock specification language that strengthens the connection between consumer price signals and on-farm decision-making. Enhanced alignment will assist in producers being paid for the product attributes that consumers value most at the dinner table.
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