A four year ban on Australian lobster imports to China has officially ended.
The importation ban dates to November 2020, when the Chinese Ministry of Commerce imposed a ban on lobster from Australia following then-Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s suggestion that Chinese links to the origin of Covid-19 deserved study.
In an October 2024 press conference, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that a “patient, calibrated, and deliberate approach” on both sides brought about the “removal of trade impediments one by one,” culminating in the resumptions of the nation’s live lobster exports to China.
Trade officially resumed in late December 2024, reopening the lucrative market for Australia and giving Chinese consumers access to live lobster for the first time since the ban’s imposition. The timing of the deal means that Western, Southern, and Eastern rock lobster will return to Chinese tables in time for Lunar New Year’s celebrations at the end of January.
Seafood Industry Australia, a seafood sector lobby, celebrated the resumption of trade in a 20 December 2024 press release, saying, “this critical achievement demonstrates that Australia-China trade relations are progressing positively, creating value and benefits for all involved.”
"There is still work to be done for Australian Tropical Rock Lobster, which remains constrained by a separate trade impediment,” Seafood Industry Australia said in the statement. “Industry welcomes further efforts between government officials in both countries to find a collaborative way forward on this issue to resume trade in sustainably-sourced lobster from the heavily impacted Torres Strait fishery.”
