Friday, 29 July 2016 09:55

New rules on animal welfare

Written by 
The new rules will give MPI greater visibility of the welfare of animals being exported from New Zealand. The new rules will give MPI greater visibility of the welfare of animals being exported from New Zealand.

New rules that will give the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) greater visibility of the welfare of animals being exported from New Zealand will come into force on August 25, 2016, MPI announced.

"New Zealanders care deeply about the welfare of animals, and this was reflected during the consultation process," says MPI's director biosecurity and animal welfare Julie Collins.

"The changes that are being introduced in August will further strengthen New Zealand's reputation as a responsible exporter of animals and animal products.

"They will give early effect to amendments made last year to the Animal Welfare Act 1999 that would have otherwise commenced in May 2020".

The changes will give MPI's Director-General more powers to:

require reports on the welfare of animals during their journey and for up to 30 days after their arrival in the importing country, and take that information into account when considering future export approvals.

In addition, the current regime under the Customs Export Prohibition (Livestock for Slaughter) Order 2013 will be moved to regulations under the Animal Welfare Act. These regulations will come into force on December 21, 2016.

"Currently this regime is implemented under the Customs and Excise Act 1996, and needs to be renewed every three years. Under the new regulations the requirement to renew this will be removed.

"I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to give us their feedback in the interests of New Zealand's animals."

More like this

Bikinis in cowshed

OPINION: An animal activist organisation is calling for an investigation into the use of dairy cows in sexuallly explicit content posted on social media and adult entertainment subscription site OnlyFans.

Editorial: Agri's mojo is back

OPINION: Good times are coming back for the primary industries. From sentiment expressed at Fieldays to the latest rural confidence survey results, all indicate farmer confidence at a near-record high.

Featured

All eyes on NZ milk supply

All eyes are on milk production in New Zealand and its impact on global dairy prices in the coming months.

National

Machinery & Products

Tech might take time

Agritech Unleashed – a one-day event held recently at Mystery Creek, near Hamilton – focused on technology as an ‘enabler’…

John Deere acquires GUSS Automation

John Deere has announced the full acquisition of GUSS Automation, LLC, a globally recognised leader in supervised high-value crop autonomy,…

Fencing excellence celebrated

The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards,…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

A step too far

OPINION: For years, the ironically named Dr Mike Joy has used his position at Victoria University to wage an activist-style…

Save us from SAFE

OPINION: A mate of yours truly has had an absolute gutsful of the activist group SAFE.

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter