Australia could soon start shipping live cattle to China.
Negotiations are underway to secure animal welfare protocols before shipments can begin, agriculture department officials told a Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday.
"Hopefully we'll be able to conclude that soon," acting secretary Phillip Glyde said.
Mr Glyde could not give a time frame for the conclusion of talks.
"We are quite confident it will happen, but it can be quite complicated arrangements," he said.
There's some confusion over how lucrative the Chinese market could be, with some estimates tipping Australia could send close to a million cattle a year.
But the hearing was told the market would determine the volume, and no forecast data could be provided when the market hadn't even been opened.
It comes amid an outcry over reports Australian cattle are being slaughtered with sledgehammers in Vietnamese abattoirs.
Two live animal exporters under review have restricted supply while a departmental investigation is under way into the claims, the hearing was told.
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