Malaysia may impose a complete ban on Australian beef imports amid a wrangle over slaughtering methods which make them unfit for Muslim consumption, reports said today.

Beef imports from Australia, which were suspended by mainly-Muslim Malaysia in mid-2005, may be banned completely if the Australian authorities are not prepared to ensure that the cattle are slaughtered according to Islamic requirements, Agriculture Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said in a Bernama news agency report.

A decision on the matter would be known after his meeting with Australia's Agriculture Quarantine Inspection Service (AQIS) in March, he said.

The issue has dragged on for too long without any answers forthcoming from the Australian authorities, Muhyiddin was quoted as saying.

"We want a final answer. If they cannot meet what we want, then we will have to ban beef imports from Australia," he said.

Malaysia in July withdrew halal certification from nine slaughterhouses in Australia when they did not meet Malaysia's Islamic food standards.

The slaughtering procedure at the abbatoirs, where the animals were rendered temporarily unconscious with a special type of device before being killed, caused brain haemorrhages, which contravened Islamic teachings, said Muhyiddin.

Abbatoirs in China

According to Islam, animals must be slaughtered and processed using approved or halal methods to enable consumption by Muslims.

Muhyiddin said the ministry had identified abbatoirs in China which could supply Malaysia with "halal" beef.

"Four abbatoirs approved by the Chinese authorities have been certified halal by us but our imports from that country are still relatively small," Muhyiddin said.

However he added that "our importers dealing with Australia feel there is still hope the situation can be rectified."

In 2004, Malaysia imported Australian meat and livestock products worth about RM250 million (US$66.3 million).