Overseas export markets ‘still want our livestock’

Australia’s live export industry maintains it has a future and will still be sending cattle and sheep overseas in a decade’s time.

Australia’s live export industry maintains it has a future and will still be sending cattle and sheep overseas in a decade’s time.

And it is looking to convince the broader Australian community of the importance – and safety – of the trade as it takes up the battle.

While the federal government plans to phase out of the live sheep trade within four years, the industry is not going down without a fight.

Australian Livestock Exporters Council chief executive officer Mark Harvey-Sutton told The Australian Ag Podcast markets “still want our livestock”.

He said a re-emerging market, Saudi Arabia, had started buying live sheep again in January this year and had already taken 50,000.

“In addition, we’ve got markets knocking on our door like Morocco and Egypt,” Mr Harvey Sutton said.

“They are all wanting our livestock – the trade is not declining.”

Mr Harvey-Sutton said in 2021-2022, the live export trade had increased by 40 per cent and another 30 per cent in the past financial year.

“The very clear answer to where the industry will be in a decade is that we will continue to be exporting sheep and cattle,” he said.

“That might seem a bit persistent or bloody minded but its my actual belief that we can win this (maintaining live export) and the reason is we must win it because we have facts on our side and the evidence is on our side.”

“We are legitimate traders in a global marketplace, we supply countries that want our livestock and a lot of the markets where we do send our livestock to are not transitioning to the box trade.”

Mr Harvey-Sutton said Australia was a country that was well placed to supply live sheep and cattle due to the quality of the stock, high biosecurity levels and reliability.

But he said uncertainty around the proposed ban to live sheep exports was tarnishing Australia’s international trading image “and that’s going to impact all of agriculture”.

Mr Harvey-Sutton said broader community support was vital to the trade, as was having high animal welfare standards.

“It is not a zero risk industry and unfortunately from time to time, those standards may not be met but they are the exception not the rule,” he said.

“Research that Livecorp (the research and development live export body) showed that as long as you are able to respond rapidly, and correct the situation as rapidly as possible, the community will continue to support you.”

You can listen to the full episode of The Australian Ag Podcast with Mark Harvey-Sutton here.