They will vote with the Coalition in the Senate in support of a private members bill aimed at blocking the new beef import rules, which come into effect Monday, but that effort is likely to be killed off by Labor in the House of Representatives.

The government argues that the risk of Australian consumers contracting the human variant of BSE is "extremely small", but Senators Nick Xenophon, Christine Milne, Bill Heffernan and Fiona Nash are insisting the risk isn't worth it.

They argue that under Labor's laws, shoppers will not have to be informed the origin of they meat they consume, using the example of a meat pie, which can be labelled as "Australian Made" if the packaging and pastry are made here, regardless of where the beef came from.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said for "all reasonable steps to be taken" to protect Australia's clean and green status.

Mr Abbott told Canberra journalists this morning "it’s very important that we maintain our status as a clean, safe beef producer".

"The last thing I would want to see is any situation where we’re accepting beef from countries that have lower standards than the standards we insist upon for our own producers," Mr Abbott said.

Mr Abbott said a private members bill coming before the Senate was a step towards preserving Australia's disease-free status.

"I think it’s important that we take what steps we can to preserve Australia’s status as a clean, safe producer of beef.

"I think it’s very important that we take all reasonable steps to preserve the safety of the Australian public."

Much of the debate has centred on the lack of information from Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) as to what protocols potentially BSE-affected importers would face.

Only last night, FSANZ released the much-anticipated protocols applying to all countries wanting to send beef to Australia under the new rules, which come into effect on Monday.

While they contain everything industry leaders publicly sought – a traceback scheme and risk assessment - the Opposition says the rules will not go far enough to protect Australia's disease free status and image.

They are still demanding an import risk analysis and want a traceback system equivalent to Australia's National Livestock Identification Scheme (NLIS) demanded of all prospective importing nations.