Farm services business Ruralco has lost its live export licence to export cattle from southern Australia after dairy cattle it flew to Japan tested positive for Bovine Johne's Disease (BJD) when they arrived.
Ruralco's Frontier International Agri (FIA) transports beef and dairy breeder cattle from southern Australia.
However, its bigger live export business, Frontier International Northern (FIN), which ships cattle to feedlot and slaughter markets such as Indonesia and Vietnam from northern Australia, has not been disrupted by the Japanese BJD scare.
FIN handled about 80 per cent of Ruralco’s $10 million live export business last financial year.
Ruralco released details of the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources’ decision to cancel its FIA export licence on Friday.
"While the cattle tested negative prior to departure from Australia, it has become evident that certain preparation and isolation procedures within the supply chain were not adequately followed," a company statement to the Australian Securities Exchange said.
"A review has commenced and appropriate action will be taken once concluded."
Japanese health protection protocols are highly sensitive to BJD and prompted authorities to temporarily impose a ban on dairy and beef cattle imports when traces of the wasting disease were detected in Holstein dairy heifers last month after the stock arrived in Japan quarantine facilities.
The 300 breeder cattle were air-freighted from Melbourne having been tested twice and confirmed fit to meet Japanese import requirements before leaving Australia.
The wasting disease is caused by a water or soil-borne bacteria mainly spread through the ingestion of contaminated faeces.
Japan is Australia's ninth largest buyer of live cattle exports.
About 10,000 head worth about $14.6m - mostly to a niche market for high value Wagyu beef - are shipped to Japan annually, by air.
Ruralco’s share price was hurt only slightly by its “price sensitive” announcement to the ASX last week, trading down from $3.45 cents a share to $3.38, which compares with lows around $3.26/share in April.
