Trade Mission To Promote Queensland Beef In Brunei
By Rosli Abidin Yahya

Bandar Seri Begawan - The safety and quality of Queensland's beef industry will be promoted in Brunei sometime next month, said the Australian State Primary Industries Minister Henry Palaszczuk in a statement.

Brunei will be one of the countries included in the beef promotion in a series of trade missions that includes South-East Asia the Middle East and South America.

He said the missions were important for the beef industry, particularly because of the recent detection of BSE, or mad cow disease, in the United States.

He added Australia was BSE-free and that message will be highlighted in the series of trade missions but they will not capitalise on the situation in the US.

"We would rather want to promote the quality and safety of Queensland and Australian beef," he said.

"We have seen beef consumption in Japan falling dramatically in the wake of BSE and that severely affects our beef exports."

Two of the missions (South-EastAsia and Middle East) are due to leave in February, while a South American mission would depart in May.

The South-East Asian mission will visit Vietnam, Brunei and Philippines, while the Middle East mission will visit the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Libya.

The South American mission will visit Brazil and Argentina. Under the Beattie Government, annual beef exports from Queensland increased by almost $1 billion to more than $2 billion per annum.

Brunei imports 22,000 heads of cattle, 10,000 goats, 1,000 sheep and 200 camels from Queensland, Australia annually.

Last April, Palaszczuk awarded a local entrepreneur Hj Mohd Hussyn bin Hj Abd Rahman, the Managing Director of Hussyn Rahman Enterprise Co., a plague at Beef Australia 2003 Fair in Rockhampton.

It was an appreciation to the local entrepreneur who attended the fair which Palaszczuk described as a motivation to Australian exporters as well as a push for increased beef exports to other importing nations including Brunei.

"Hj Hussyn's attendance at the Beef Australia 2003 demonstrates his strong personal interest in our beef industry and what we have to offer and it also shows the increasing potential of our beef market in Brunei." said Mr Palaszczuk. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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