Meat Industry Reforms in Australia

Question: Discuss about theMeat Industry Reforms in Australia. Answer: Introduction The meat and livestock industry in Australia has been identified as one of the largest industries in the country contributing towards trade and employment. In the recent years, the competition of the firms operating in the industry is largely increasing due to the market structure, pricing strategy, and labour relations. In the Australian domestic market as well as export market, the beef industry has created its mark. Meanwhile, the competitive domestic meat industry structure needs quality reforms directed to increase long-term transparency in setting prices (Long, 2016). The study paper has been prepared to investigate the current status of the Australian meat industry. Furthermore, the study of the meat industry will indicate the specific reforms that have been done in the beef industry to maintain transparency. Over the past couple of decade or so, the fundamental structure of the Australian meat industry was modified by the government to make life easier for the suppliers, meat producers, as well as wholesale marketers. The regulatory and governing body of the Australian meat industry has set up significant reform calls so that small and medium abattoirs and meat processing firms will be benefited in a substantial order. In the next section, the overall position of the industry and the reform calls directed towards the industry has been described in detail. In the Australian meat industry, the increasing market share of the supermarkets has created significant pricing issues. As a result of the scenario, pricing reforms have become mandatory to support the small and medium meat producers as well as suppliers. In the competitive market scenario, the beef marketers have demanded Senate Inquiry to set transparency in the beef market as far as price monitoring is concerned (Long, 2016). Currently, the majority of the beef producers are directly selling the cattle to meat producing firms and abattoirs. Hence, pricing transparency will be the key to the survival of the meat producers. Moreover, around twenty percent of the cattle have been settled by saleyards. Therefore, most of the meat producers are demanding to monitor market prices so that accurate rate can be given to the sellers. The Australian meat industry is worth $15.8 billion. As a result of the massive valuation of the industry, export and trade of the Australian beef industry can be identified as one of the leading businesses around the world (Sun, Hyland and Bosch, 2014). In the meat industry reforms, the Australian government has set reform policy to increase the productivity, market services and position of the meat producers. Government policies and funding have largely supported the formulised structure of the Australian meat industry (Troy and Kerry, 2010). The vigilant and robust policies directed towards the meat industry have contributed to the environmental sustainability, responsible meat production, and health-conscious food practices. The pricing policy of red meat products includes significant retail as well as wholesale prices to support the structure of the industry. In the export section, consistent strategic policies have been intervened to promote beef farming (Kidane, 2007). Admittedly, latest technologies have been included in the meat producing and processing industry to increase the productivity as well. In order to establish a monetary balance in the meat industry, the government of Australia needs a price flooring policy that will help to eliminate the issues of price fluctuation in the market (Hunter, 2013). In other words, the government needs to introduce a minimum and maximum level of price that can be charged by each level of businesses in the meat industry to eliminate the issues of unequal price. By considering the report of Long (2016), it can be seen that the different prices charged by the large sellers due to the problems of middleman has created a great buss in the market (Long, 2016). Henc e, the government needs to promote the large supermarkets like Coles and others to support the farmers and buy products directly from them in order to minimise the level of price rise in the industry. Furthermore, the government can introduce technological reforms by providing technical support and easy loans to the small and medium scale farmers. The technological reforms will help to increase the production rate of the small farmers and minimise their production costs (Laufer, 2006). On the other hand, a bulk production can be helpful in controlling the expenses and reducing the high amount of price charged by the meat producers. In order to enable the small and medium scale producers to implement technological changes, the government can collaborate with banks to provide low interest loans (de Frutos and Manzano, 2014). On the other hand, the educational support provided by the large sellers such as supermarkets and meat processing organisations can lead to an economic reform in the industry (Long, 2016). The government can support the initiative of sustainable development of the meat industry by taking the help of the large firms and supporting them to educate the small and me dium scale farmers to develop their production and sell the products at right place in right time. It is important to note that the government of Australia played an essential role during the time of BSE or better known as Mad Cow Disease. During the period of 1990 to 2006, the government provided all sorts of medical supports to the small and medium scale farmers to safeguard their cattle and livestock (Lin, Ma and Chen, 2008). Different reforms were conducted by the Australian government to minimise the import of foreign livestock to keep the Australian production safe. Hence, the Australian Meat Industry Council needs to take care of such issues in order to safeguard the industry from any sort of economic losses (de Frutos and Manzano, 2014). By considering the above analysis, it can be seen that the Australian government has supported the growth of meat industry through different economic reforms. Meanwhile, the government needs to make several new policy changes in order to mitigate the issues of price fluctuation and price discrimination in the industry. Furthermore, the government needs to implement technological reforms in the form of monetary support and educational support to increase the level of production and eliminate the crisis of meat in the market. Additionally, the government can support the small and medium scale producers to directly sell the products to large supermarkets to minimise the influence of middleman. References de Frutos, M. and Manzano, C. (2014). Market transparency, market quality, and sunshine trading.Journal of Financial Markets, 17, pp.174-198. Hunter, R. (2013). Hormonal growth promotant use in the Australian beef industry.Animal Production Science, 50(7), p.637. Kidane, H. (2007). Export Market for Australian Beef Industry.Journal of Food Products Marketing, 14(1), pp.11-36. Laufer, F. (2006). Market Reforms, Continued.Health Affairs, 25(2), pp.567-568. Lin, Y., Ma, T. and Chen, H. (2008). Does Information Content Necessarily Increase with Greater Pre-Trade Transparency?.Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies, 11(04), pp.531-554. Long, W. (2016).Calls to reform beef markets and increase transparency. [online] ABC Rural. Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-21/calls-to-reform-beef-markets-and-increase-transparency/7864490 [Accessed Jan. 2017]. Sun, D., Hyland, P. and Bosch, O. (2014). A Systemic View of Innovation Adoption in the Australian Beef Industry.Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 32(6), pp.646-657. Troy, D. and Kerry, J. (2010). Consumer perception and the role of science in the meat industry.Meat Science, 86(1), pp.214-226.