Live sheep exported may not be suitable for local box meat switch

Government plans to help sheep farmers transition from live exports to boxed meat may hit a hurdle over the quality of the meat.

Plans to transition farmers from live sheep exports to boxed meat may be foiled, after the government-appointed head of the phase-out panel conceded the quality of lamb sent overseas is not always up to local processing standards.

The federal government has repeatedly said it is open to ramping up domestic abattoir capacity to provide Australian producers with a route into the boxed meat market after the last live export ship has sailed.

However, panel chair Phillip Glyde admitted in a recent forum that the situation could force an extension of the phase-out period.

“When we talk to processors, we hear that they can sell overseas anything they can kill,” Mr Glyde said.

Phase out of live sheep exports by sea consultation panel chair Phillip Glyde at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: Kym Smith

“But when we talk to sheep producers, what we hear is the (live export) animals … do not necessarily meet the specifications that the abattoirs have for processing, for prime lamb in particular.

“So there’s a real concern about whether or not the type of breeds that have been used in the live export trade actually are suitable, and that goes to the question of time frames.”

Mr Glyde said the panel was considering funding and other programs to support new abattoirs and augmenting existing facilities, and how the government could help producers change business models.

The panel also recently met with New Zealand authorities to discuss how that nation shut down the trade.

Sheep in pins awaiting loading on trucks bound for live export at Peel Feedlot, Mardella, Western Australia. Picture: Philip Gostelow/The Australian

All livestock exports by sea from NZ have now ceased after a ban on shipping out animals for breeding came into effect on April 30. NZ’s lengthy phase-out time frame began with a ban on live exports for slaughter in 2008.

The Albanese government went to the 2022 election with a promise to halt the live sheep by sea export trade but has deferred announcing a timeline, other than saying the phase-out will not happen within its first term.