The Australian high commissioner to Vanuatu has announced that Australia will import beef from Vanuatu.
The Vanuatu trade minister, Jean Alain Mahe, says as the country spends millions of dollars on imports from Australia it would only be proper that Australia should relax their protectionist policies to allow fair trading between two countries.
The second secretary in the Australian high commission, Catherine Jones, says the a ban on Vanuatu beef was tightened with the outbreak of mad cow disease in Europe.
But she says last year Vanuatu received a category I rating from the European Commission, allowing it to export its beef to Australia.
She says exports must include certification that the cattle were born, raised and slaughtered in Vanuatu.
