Following two years of joint effort by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service and the Australian Dairy Corporation , the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will certify the import of frozen cream from Australia. The conditions of access based on the 1927 Milk Import Act were onerous including provision of a herd health certificate, satisfactory dairy farm and factory sanitation reports and guarantee of Australia's tuberculin free status. Access has been granted under the "Any Country" quota on a "first-come, first-served" basis for cream with a butter fat content greater than 6 per cent but less than 45 per cent. Access is currently limited to one Australian supplier but the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service and the Australian Dairy Corporation will work with other interested dairy companies to gain additional FDA approval. The total "Any Country" access per calendar year is 1,016,723 litres (or 1,047.2 tonnes). The in-quota tariff rate is 3.2 US cents per litre. New Zealand holds a country specific quota of 5,678,117 litres and can also supply under the "Any Country" quota. "This is a valuable market opening opportunity for the Australian dairy industry. Consumption of cream based products is growing in the US and cream prices, are generally above world traded prices," said the Managing Director of the Australian Dairy Corporation, Mr. Sandy Murdoch. "Potentially, the US market for cream could be worth many millions of dollars to Australian dairy farmers and processors," said Mr Murdoch. Source: Australia Dairy Corporation
