Under the current system the import permit allocation is decided every three months, forcing exporters to gamble on how many cattle they should buy.

This year saw the Indonesian government radically cut the number of live cattle permits to 50,000 in the third quarter as part of a self-sufficiency drive.

However the number has been restored to 200,000 from October to December after the price of beef soared around Ramadan and butchers at wet markets in Bandung and Jakarta went on strike in protest.

Mr Joyce told Fairfax Media he did not believe the quarterly permit system benefited either country.

"People can make a short-term gain by creating uncertainty in the market that if they don't buy now at a higher price they won't get it at all," Mr Joyce said.

"But  [Indonesians] want a competitive price so [an annual permit system] is inherently in all of our interests. The biggest issue for us is to make sure we have an affordable product in the streets of Jakarta and get a good return for the farming end in Australia."

Indonesia's director-general for Livestock and Animal Welfare, Muladno, told Fairfax Media he hoped an annual import figure would be finalised by December.

Australia is currently the only country to export live cattle to Indonesia and is the dominant boxed beef supplier, with about 80 per cent market share.

However Mr Muladno said live cattle could also be imported from other countries if it was more profitable: "I think this will create a healthy, competitive business environment for exporters and in the end it is the customers that will benefit."

Mr Muladno said an Indonesian delegation visited India last week to investigate the possibility of importing buffalo.

"It is part of our efforts to press down the market price," he said. "We surveyed the industry, the animal welfare and health, what is the potential to import etc," he said. "We haven't made a decision but we will do it soon."

Australian exporters fear the price of beef would crash in Indonesia if the market was flooded with cheap buffalo meat from India. India also has foot and mouth disease.

Mr Joyce said it would be of concern to Australia if diseases got transferred across borders. "We all know in this country how incredibly hard it is to take diseases out. My father was part of the tuberculosis eradication campaign - it was incredibly difficult. Obviously we don't want foot and mouth disease making its way into the Indonesian market and neither does Indonesia."

Mr Joyce said he would like to see a South-East Asia beef supply options market to create an insurance policy. "No one would have a monopoly, it would be almost like a futures exchange. We have had a crack at it with beef and I think we should have another go and try to do it better."

Mr Joyce's visit is expected to include a visit to Elders abattoir in Bogor, an alumni function for young Indonesian cattle workers who have trained in the Northern Territory, a cooking demonstration with a local celebrity chef and meetings with Indonesian ministers.

Feedlot operator PT Tanjung Unggul Mandiri (TUM) currently has 17,000 Australian cows at two feedlots in Tangerang, about 25 kilometres west of Jakarta, a fraction of its total capacity of 56,000.

In the 120 days they are fattened before slaughter in Indonesia they put on a whopping 160 kilograms, finally tipping the scales at 460 kilograms.

"Every kilogram of fat going into the cow is Indonesian," boasts Wilson Hasan, whose father Buntoro Hasan started importing Australian cows with his two brothers in 2001.

The feedlots are a fillip for the local economy. TUM employs 500 workers and sources 99 per cent of the cattle fodder - palm kernel meal, cassava waste and molasses - from local agricultural byproducts.

Mr Hasan said he welcomed the 200,000 permit allocation in the fourth quarter and the fact that the Indonesian government was working towards an annual figure.

"This would give us a consistent supply of cattle to the market," he said. "The Indonesian government also believes it would also help lower the price of cattle because there would be less speculation and more planning around shipping."

with Karuni Rompies