AUSTRALIA's largest kangaroo meat processor says the long awaited resumption of trade with Russia and China could take place within the next six months.
Beginning as a supplier for the pet food market in the early 1980s, South Australia-based Macro Meats supplies about 100 tonnes of kangaroo meat for human consumption every week to more than 2500 supermarkets across Australia.
Managing director Ray Borda said the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) would meet with Russian trade officials in Berlin on January 16, where trade resumption was expected to be discussed.
Mr Borda, who also serves as Kanga-roo Industry Association of Australia president, said while he expected the Russian Government to again request to inspect major Australian plants before giving trade the green light, he hoped an an-nouncement would be made before the end of the financial year.
"The Russians asked the Australians to take part in the meeting. It is the first time since the roo ban that we have seen a positive move by the Russians, so we are all very hopeful," he said.
He said AQIS was similarly preparing a document which he expected to be lodged with the Chinese Government in the coming weeks and which refuted the "baseless claims" of anti-kangaroo industry protest groups.
The Chinese Government became reluctant to import kangaroo product last year following a backlash from its decision to import seal meat from Canada and a sustained protest campaign from animal rights activists in Australia.
"There is a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel ? the Federal Government is putting together a factual report to be presented to the Chinese to prove there are no animal welfare issues and the allegations coming from activists are untrue," he said.
"The Russian market has also been going without kangaroo meat for three years and yet our Russian customers are still asking for it. There is more than enough demand internationally for the Australian roo industry."
However, he that warned increasing international trade, even with major markets, was not without its difficulties.
He said he was concerned that the expanding kangaroo populations and big increases in harvest quotas could encourage the industry to rapidly lift production, causing an oversupply of kangaroo meat in international marketplace, which would drive prices down.
He said this would set a "dangerous" precedent that would threaten the long- term sustainability of the industry.
"There are more kangaroos out there than we've ever seen in history but we are still waiting on the Chinese and Russian markets to get started," he said.
"Consistency is the key to our industry. We could all go out and try to sell the big supply levels we have now but we would have to sell it at a price far too low to be sustainable. It is crucial we pick up one of those two markets because gives us a greater capacity without having to prostitute our price."
Whereas the wider kangaroo meat industry had struggled since the closure of the Russian trade in 2009, Mr Borda said his company has seen 25 percent annual growth in retail sales of kangaroo meat in recent years, mostly through the domestic market.
Mr Borda said the Russian trade only accounted for about 10percent of his business prior to its suspension.
He said Macro Meats had taken an "under the radar" approach to marketing domestically, using the proven health strengths of the product to target health conscious consumers, including providing information and recipes to dieticians and weight loss companies.
"To market kangaroo meat is not something that is easy," he said.
"We spend a lot of money defending ourselves against animal activists who make silly accusations with no basis of fact. The animal activists don't want anyone to eat meat at all, but kangaroos are an especially easy target because of the general public's lack of knowledge on the issue.
"Kangaroo meat for human consumption is still very much in its infancy. We have only been eating it for 15 years in this country. When you think people have been eating beef and pork for thousands of years, you are not going to be able to change that tradition overnight."
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