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FRAN KELLY: Minister, good morning.

SIMON CREAN: Good morning Fran.

FRAN KELLY: Australia is a really big beef producer, a major beef exporter. Why do we need to import any beef at all?

SIMON CREAN: Well we don't have to import beef, but we can't have in place restrictions that stop beef in a way that isn't recognised by our other trading partners. Now, that's one dimension of it, but the bigger issue, Fran, is this: that the industry came to us and said "change the rules". And the reason they said "change the rules" is that if we keep in place what our standards are now, were there to be an outbreak in Australia of BSE - and that can happen in certain circumstances - then all of the beef would have to be taken off the shelves, and what would that do to our exporting reputation? Now, I think that you've got a responsibility to have regard to what the industry is saying, so we did. We then went and consulted where the science had moved to in relation to this, and we based our decision solidly on the science. We've been very open about it. We've had senate hearings about it. We've consulted not just the industry, we've consulted health groups, we've consulted consumer groups about this. And quite frankly, we are not going to do anything that would destroy the reputation of our beef industry. We are going to put in place the strictest of safeguards to ensure that if there are any imports there is no BSE in those imports.

FRAN KELLY: But Minister, the strictest of safeguards still can't guarantee 100 per cent safety for Australia consumers, can it? You cannot say that the beef we import from these countries will be 100 per cent safe, can you?

SIMON CREAN: We can say - and this has been said by the head of Food Standards Australia - that with the safeguards that are in place - he has given the 100 per cent guarantee that no beef that's imported will have BSE.

FRAN KELLY: But how can you make that? Epidemiologist Professor John Matthews, who I think was one of the people who conducted the review that you're basing your certainty on, said that the risk to human health would be extremely low. But that extremely low is not no-risk. As the Greens point out, why would you go from a no-risk policy to a calculated risk policy?

SIMON CREAN: No, he's saying that the risk to people is low. What we've then got to do is to put in place standards that ensure that we don't import BSE-affected product, and they're the standards that we have put in place. I mean I think this argument that has been whipped up and tried to worry people about it is very unfortunate. What we have to deal with, and we've always been dealing with, is the circumstances in which we are not going to put consumers at risk, we're not going to put our beef industry at risk. But we are going to respond to the legitimate issues that the beef industry raises with us. Now, you'd think that if anyone was concerned about the threat to the reputation of the beef industry, it would be the beef growers, the beef producers.

FRAN KELLY: Not all of them are in favour of it, are they?

SIMON CREAN: The peak industry body not only wrote to us on behalf of all of their representative industries, not only wrote to us and asked us to do it, Fran, they've been out there defending this position and saying that the assertions that are made by others are not true. Now, I will say it to you and I will ensure as Minister, along with Tony Burke, along with Mark Butler, in terms of the responsible ministers, we will ensure that we're putting in place the necessary procedures, requiring the appropriate protocols. Those protocols are now out; they've now been released; they've been consulted with the industry. All of those safeguards are in place.

FRAN KELLY: Can I just say to you that the Australian Beef Association is one group that is opposed to this. But when you talk about safeguards, let's look at that, because a lot of the critics of this have been pointing out that other countries that we're now looking at importing beef from don't have the traceability of their beef that we have. And we could end up eating imported beef in a meat pie that came from a cow from Mexico, that we don't know where it's come from and the consumer will have no idea where it's come from. How do you guard against that?

SIMON CREAN: Two issues here, Fran. In terms of the traceability question, as part of the mechanisms we're putting in place we are requiring the equivalence of our traceability system from the areas that we will import from.

FRAN KELLY: But these countries don't have those traceability systems, do they?

SIMON CREAN: We will be requiring them to implement traceability mechanisms that meet our standards Fran. That's the whole purpose. Let's get this argument right. You said that beef will be imported from 1 March. It won't. All that happens from 1 March is that countries that previously couldn't import - send beef here - can apply to have it done. But we will not allow it in until the safeguards are met, and traceability is another of those safeguards. On the question of the consumer question, because that goes to labelling, let me just make the point that the labelling laws that we're dealing with were introduced by the Howard Government in 2005/2006. Bill Heffernan, for example, was a member of that Government. I didn't see him out there pulling stunts those days about knowing the composition of a meat pie.

FRAN KELLY: I'm less interested in the political stance. I'm more interested from the consumer being certain.

SIMON CREAN: Exactly.

FRAN KELLY: I mean what we need to get clear here is that the safeguards you will put in place are adequate. For instance, is it true that cattle producers overseas who want to export into Australia will have to fill in a questionnaire? How do you know they're going to tell the truth on a questionnaire? What other sort of - will there be inspectors going to look at the places where the cows are coming from?

SIMON CREAN: Absolutely, because the questionnaire is the first part of the process. If they meet the requirements according to them, we will then have inspectors look at that to be satisfied from our perspective. So let's get that right too. Now, on the labelling question - because I think this is important - we understood at the time that we were announcing these changes that we would also have to review the labelling laws, the laws that the John Howard Government introduced four years ago that are now, according to our critics, causing the problem. We're looking at that. There will be a report issued early in March and we will be seeking to move, where we need to, to strengthen the labelling laws. So we've got the protocols in place for people safety, for human safety. We've got protocols in place that mean that the herd, the cattle herd can't be infected by this, and we will address the labelling laws.

FRAN KELLY: Can I just ask you briefly and finally Minister whether - the suggestion is that we are doing this in response to being leaned on by America, and under the free trade agreement America wants us to do this, even though we hardly import any American beef before the ban in the first place. Are we doing this to please the Americans?

SIMON CREAN: No, we're not. And I've seen that allegation. I categorically refute it. It's true that these countries have made representation to us since we've been in government. In response to that is part of the reason why we've actually looked at the science, but we would never do it in relation to just pressure from another country. Why do we have to? We've got a free trade agreement with the US. We don't have to do it according to that, but we do have to move with the times. And I say to you we do have to move if the industry that is responsible for not just the question of what we produce here, but a world class beef industry. So good is our beef that two-thirds of it is exported, Fran.

FRAN KELLY: Okay.

SIMON CREAN: So why would we want to put that at risk, but more importantly, why wouldn't we listen to the people who have built that industry, listen to what they are saying to us about what they need going forward? We've done that but we've done it subject to the strictest of safeguards.

FRAN KELLY: Minister, thank you very much for your time on Breakfast.

SIMON CREAN: My pleasure.

FRAN KELLY: Trade Minister Simon Crean.

ENDS

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