A major outbreak of foot-and-mouth Disease (FMD) in Indonesia, which started in May 2022, has put authorities and farmers in Australia on high alert.

With the Indonesian island of Bali a major destination for Australian tourists, concerns have been raised that the disease could be brought into the country.

There have also been rumours circulating in Chinese media that authorities there could impose a ban on meat imports from Australia and New Zealand in direct response to the Indonesian FMD outbreak.

As reported on p8 of last week’s edition dated 13 August, both Australia and New Zealand are heavily reliant on trade with China.

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