(SMH) Coalition senators have clashed with representatives of a key cattle group over new rules covering the importation of beef to Australia. Imports from countries which have experienced bovine spongiform encephalopathy - better known as mad-cow disease - will be allowed from March 1, sparking anger from some in the local cattle industry. But the Red Meat Advisory Council is backing the new rules, subject to further consultations with Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). The Cattle Council of Australia supports the move but acknowledged to a Senate inquiry hearing on Monday that it still had some concerns about the protocols. That led Nationals senator Fiona Nash to ask cattle council president Greg Brown what would happen if FSANZ ignored his organisation's input. "Obviously, we'll do what we did before, raise the issue publicly," Mr Brown told the Senate's rural and regional affairs committee in Canberra. When pressed further by Senator Nash, Mr Brown admitted that the council had no jurisdiction to insist on changes. 
(SMH) The CSIRO has set its sights on increasing the nation's agricultural productivity by 50 per cent, while cutting carbon emissions by the same amount. [..] Its goal is to work out how to secure the nation's agriculture and forest industries by increasing productivity by 50 per cent, while also reducing carbon emissions intensity by at least that much between now and 2030. CSIRO chief executive Megan Clark said farmers and foresters were facing new challenges and had to adapt. 
Beef imported to Australia from countries where there has been an outbreak of mad cow disease will not be traced back to individual farms, a Senate inquiry has been told. Yet beef farms in Australia are subject to full traceability through the National Livestock Identification System. The double standard drew the ire of coalition senators during a Senate estimates hearing in Canberra on Monday. "How on earth ... can we be sure about the beef that's coming from that (overseas) property?" Nationals senator Fiona Nash asked the chief veterinary officer from the government's Biosecurity Service Group. Asked whether there would be individual assessments of traceability, Dr Andy Carroll replied: "No." common topic keywords (aka tags)
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