As a Federal Government minister during Australia’s 2011 live cattle export crisis, Simon Crean believes our livestock industry relies heavily on its social licence as much as economic drivers.
In his currently role as Australian Livestock Exporters Council chairman, Mr Crean emphasised the above point about Australia’s live cattle exports during a speech to the Rural Press Club of Queensland.
“Critics who argue we can simply replace the live trade with boxed product overlook the basic fact that this demand is specifically for live animals,” Mr Crean said.
“And Australia’s status as the world leader in livestock exporting, leading a field of more than 100 other livestock exporting countries, means that if Australian exporters are taken out of the equation, the global trade will continue but animal welfare standards will decline.
“Australia’s livestock export trade is committed to a ‘no fear, no pain’ objective in relation to livestock under our management.
“We know that good animal welfare outcomes represent good business.
“Our commitment doesn’t stop when Australian livestock leave our country or are discharged from their vessel.
“It exists up to the point of slaughter and we are the only country that makes that commitment.”
Mr Crean said the World Organisation for Animal Health recognised Australia as the world leader in animal welfare practices in the trade.
“Since 2011 we have made huge progress, but that’s not to say we have eliminated all incidents,” he said.
“There is still significant improvement to be made and we remain committed to achieving that.
“Our industry’s programs have delivered training to 11,000 participants in international markets and the biggest budgetary commitment from our service provider LiveCorp is to animal welfare programs.
“In the case of Indonesia, pre-slaughter stunning of cattle has grown enormously from under 10 per cent five years ago to around 95pc today.”
Mr Crean said exporters’ commitment to the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS), now in its sixth year of operation, and the industry’s determination to build the livestock global assurance program means Australia is continuing to set global benchmarks.
“The ESCAS journey has been revolutionary for livestock exporters,” he said.
“While our social licence to operate is at the core of ESCAS, it also represents a 21st century approach to ensuring our industry can meet the growing demand for live animals as a source of protein.