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The Government has decided not to reinstate live animal exports by sea. Photo Credit: SAFE
Exporters of live animals by sea say the decision by the coalition Government to go back on its word to reinstate the live export trade is "mysterious and disappointing".
This follows the announcement by one of the advocates for the resumption of the trade, ACT MP and Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard, that he couldn't get Cabinet to agree to lifting the ban imposed by the previous Labour government. He had earlier said the ban would be lifted in 2025.
Chief executive of Livestock Exports, Glen Neal, says they hadn't heard from the Government on the issue for about nine months and suspected that something was amiss.
"We worked week in and week out with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) for two years to get those standards drafted up and they were looking good. We trialled aspects of them before the ban was phased in right through until April 2023, and the reports we received were positive about animal welfare.
"We took heart from the coalition promise and we were looking forward to getting back underway, so this is a bit of a blow," he told Dairy News.
Neal says the comments by Agriculture Minister Todd McClay that Cabinet had concerns about the technical aspects of the new standards was a complete surprise to his organisation. He says they had no indication from MPI expressing any concerns or disagreements around any points about the revised standards that they drafted up.
"We wonder about the viability of that commentary," he says.
He says they are disappointed that the decision to not reinstate live exports appears to be made on ideological rather than scientific grounds.
"If the Government wants to get re-elected, it should stick to what it campaigned on," he says.
Federated Farmers dairy head Karl Dean described the decision to keep the ban in place as disappointing, but a bit understandable. He says this is particularly the case when opposition parties are saying they would reinstate the ban if elected - something he says that might happen in six years or six months' time.
'A Smart Decision'
Labour's Damien O'Connor, who placed the ban when he was in office, says keeping it is one of the few smart decisions the coalition have made but that it doesn't make up for all the stupid ones they've made.
He says, internationally, there's been less investment in ships to carry live animals and more countries have been legislating to reduce or ban the trade. O'Connor says the challenges for a distant nation like NZ are too great around animal welfare, business viability and customer demand to get involved in live animal exports by sea.
He says while some farmers may complain about losing an option, the reality shouldn't affect a good business.
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Damien O'Connor |
"The sustainability and viability of a business should not hinge on just one option. There are many options that are removed from businesses overnight and this one has been well flagged. I gave the industry two years, and anyone who was looking around the world could see that this is a dying trade," he says.
Meanwhile, Green Party agriculture spokesperson Steve Abel says the clear reality of the situation has caught up with the Government. He says live exports are fundamentally cruel, despite industry spin.
The man who organised a 57,000 signature petition to ban the export of live animals by sea from NZ says he's delighted that the Government has abandoned plans to reinstate the trade.
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