The agreement came about as a result of work by the British Pig Executive (BPEX), Defra, British processing firms and close contacts between the MLC Brussels office and Australian authorities.

The Australian market for imports is large and growing - in 2003 imports totalled 53,000 tonnes and by 2005 that has risen to 78,000.

BPEX Export Manager Jean-Pierre Garnier said: "At the moment Australia takes the majority of its imported pork from Denmark and Canada.

"The success in opening this market reflects the level of collaboration between BPEX, Defra and the processing industry which has brought about the opening of this market.

"The type of cuts they want are mostly those for further processing and it will be a benefit to British producers.

"We are working on a market analysis at the moment to make sure we target our exports correctly and would hope to see the first shipments going later on this year."

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