The Australian reports West Australian officials have dashed to Jakarta to try to salvage the state’s livecattle trade after the detection of eight new cases of lumpy skin disease in three new export yards across northern Australia.
A Wyndham export yard was one of four Australian facilities suspended by Indonesia, and then Malaysia, last month.  That left Broome as the state’s last port allowed to export livestock with no conditions attached. But the latest cases, were detected in Broome and two other ports in northern Australia, which means all cattle shipped from those sites must now first undergo nose and mouth swabs, adding millions of dollars in costs that producers apparently cannot afford.
Well, thats what comes of having all one's eggs in a shonky basket. Its always been a high risk business and producers always bellyache the minute it unravels....The animals at least will get a respite from the cruelty whilst the trade has AGAIN been suspended.

Sheep Central reports that AA wants to undermine ESCAS. How anyone could undermine an already dysfunctional system however is anyone's guess.The Govt and the exporters continually mouth ESCAS as the catchphrase of regulatory stringency. Yet these standards are not policed or enforced so are regularly flouted by exporters....with importers being the same company as exporters in most ME countries.
Whenever AA turns up, which is not often, they find non-compliance that is later upheld by the Dept. They have a near 100% strike-rate....which says one thing - that this is the norm and not the exception.
Despite what the farmers are told and want to believe, these companies do not care at all about animal welfare and any assertions to the country are just "welf-wash" (the welfare equivalent of environment's greenwash). And they are so confident about getting away with the welf-wash, that they dont even try and ensure good compliance at a critical timepoint with the trade under threat...surely time to at least be seen to be doing the right thing..! One thing is for sure, if its not possible to get ESCAS compliance now, it will never work.

Recent footage of blatant ESCAS breaches in the Middle East (Oman and Jordan) show why the sheep live ex trade must be phased out with a date for phaseout legislated. It is the last day for the petition: please sign: https://www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petition/EN5323.

The response of both past and present agriculture ministers to the latest round of meticulously documented atrocities committed against Australian sheep in the Middle East is just classic. Both insist the system works (or at least works mostly) and Littleproud even went so far as stating that ESCAS is why Australia was there – so we could fix things in the Middle East (despite the incontrovertible evidence in front of him).

As for ESCAS-approved facilities, a knife of variable sharpness and a table is all that seems to be required (hardly what the Australian public would find acceptable).

ESCAS was instituted in 2012 – 11 years ago. It has been policed by Australian officials rarely if ever. The facilities are not even inspected to confirm they are adequate. The only independent auditor has been the unpaid Animals Australia. And every time they turn up they find the system is broken. The odds of that happening in a functional system over 11 years would be zero. The odds of that happening if the system were continuously broken are very high.

One suspects that if presented with a photo of a red sky, the Australian government would maintain that it's always blue. The situation would be laughable if it weren't so tragic.

See: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-28/exposing-australia%E2%80%99s-live-export-shame/102786244

VALE wants to notify supporters of the petition requesting  the House to legislate the date, within the 47th Parliament, to phase out live sheep export from Australia by sea within the shortest possible timeframe.

PETITION: Petition EN5323 - Legislate an end date for live sheep export this term
AND JUST IGNORE THE SURVEY that pops up first - dismiss it and get to the petition. Great timing from the Parliament to run this survey....NOT!

Petition Status
The petition is currently open for signature: https://www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petition/EN5323

The Australian Financial Review has reported that a Federal Court judge has labelled claims from cattle farmers that they could have exported an extra 800000 cows to Indonesia without the 2011 trade suspension as “cloud-cuckoo-land” and “absurd”.
Justice Steven Rares lashed the figure put forward by lawyers representing 215 affected farmers, suggesting it was simply not probable given the fixed capacity of Indonesia’s abattoir and quota system.
Justice Rares ordered the farmers to return in October to make their case, though he expressed his strong scepticism.
Lucky someone can see through live export spin. Maybe we should see what he thinks about the sky falling in on 'cloud cuckoo land' when the phaseout occurs.

The Australian Government says it is moving to assure international trading partners that Australia remains free from lumpy skin disease (LSD), after Indonesia suspended imports from four Australian facilities.

A small number of Australian cattle exported to Indonesia have been diagnosed with LSD, Australia’s chief veterinary officer indicated the positive results came after the cattle had arrived and spent some time in Indonesia, where LSD is endemic, but conceded that it could also have been contracted on the ships.

VALE raised the biosecurity risk of live export ships from Indonesia in July 2022. Initially this was rejected, but later it was conceded by the West Australian Department of Agriculture (AVA Albany Conference Sept 2022) that returning ships were a biosecurity risk for foot and mouth disease. It seems that ships could carry LSD vectors also.

The bottom line is that the risk to Australia’s non-exporting livestock producers and Australia’s much more profitable export beef trade matters less than the northern live export trade. The show must go on.

See also: https://nff.org.au/media-release/joint-statement-from-the-red-meat-advisory-council-and-the-national-farmers-federation-regarding-live-cattle-exports-to-indonesia/

https://www.beefcentral.com/live-export/australia-stresses-disease-free-status-after-indonesia-suspends-four-trade-facilities/

Australian farmers and the Dept of Ag continue to trust the exporters despite everything, including the abuses uncovered at the destination and the disasters on ships. Is it absolute collusion, flagrant stupidity or wilful blindness?

When 16 inspectors spent >12h days in the South African feedlots and on the Al Messilah (as opposed to a cursory one-off visit from an industry-compliant Australian Dept official), they found suffering on an unimaginable scale. The feedlot manager has now been arrested for animal cruelty. The diligence of NSPCA in protecting animals has exposed the fact this company, the main exporter of sheep out of Australia (mostly using this very same ship), do not care one iota for animal welfare.  No amount of spin can disguise this animal cruelty by an export company that also operates out of Australia and maintains it has the highest animal welfare standards.

Critics argue that this is what will happen if Australia stops exporting. They should perhaps note that the NSPCA has powers that RSPCA in Australia doesn't. That'ss why there is transparency in South Africa and why animal cruelty in live export can be actively policed and exposed.

It's not good for NSPCA if the trade moves there but, arguably, it could be an improvement for the sheep – at least they have protection there. And probably 11000 fewer had to suffer. Word at the port is that the ship left with a mere 38,000 onboard.

See: https://www.facebook.com/NSPCA/

An animal welfare debacle is currently unfolding in South Africa. Prohibited in Australia from taking winter acclimatised sheep to the Middle Eastern summer, KLTT has turned to other countries to do just that. Al Mawashi and Livestock Transport and Trading Company PSC (KLTT) have sent the Al Messilah to South Africa.

Despite statements from the industry spin body, Livestock Collective, and exporter media acknowledging animal welfare issues for southern hemisphere sheep at this time of year, the same exporters just go to another country, which doesn't have the same animal welfare regulations and export regardless. Not exactly what one expects from an industry that has supposedly cleaned up its act. If any act cleaning has been performed it seems that it's only because there was no choice – in Australia.

If shipping at this time wasn't bad enough, NSPCA inspection of the Al Mawashi feedlots indicated "the lack of preparedness and adherence by the exporters to the Government Guidelines despite assurances that they would be.... Inspectors observed:-
• Sheep being fed roughage at the feedlot as the pelleted food has run out. The animals have not been given the minimum of 7 days to adjust to eating pelleted food to prevent malnourishment or even starvation while on board the ship, where this will be the only feed provided.
• Many sheep with wool up to 100mm long were observed, despite the Government ‘Guidelines’ requirements for wool not to exceed 25mm, because of the severe heat as the animals face the wrath of the hot summer along the journey, especially in the strait of Hormuz.
• Numerous sheep with dangerous protruding horns which pose a risk for them being trapped between lairage bars and also risk of causing injury to other animals. These horns had not been trimmed as per Government ‘Guidelines.’
• Many obviously pregnant ewes in the feedlot and an increasing number of new-born lambs as well as many animals who have aborted their young. The Government ‘Guidelines’ were not adhered to and the animals had not been scanned to determine pregnancy.
In addition, the teams of Inspectors on site at the feedlot report compromised animals including lame sheep, sheep with foot rot, pink eye throughout the pens as well as emaciated and moribund sheep."

The situation was reportedly "so dire that in order to halt the loading until the ‘Guidelines’ were adhered to, the NSPCA applied for an Urgent High Court Interdict ... Despite these appalling conditions of the animals at the feedlot ... the acting judge did not hear the merits of the matter and only heard argument on urgency. The loading was then permitted to commence. Undeterred, and despite enormous challenges, the NSPCA Inspectors continue to monitor the loading at the feedlot and the harbour ..."

Their team of 16 inspectors have been working 12 hours a day since 20 July 2023. "Had it not been for NSPCA Inspectors, compromised animals would have been loaded onto the vessel."

So, this industry cares about animal welfare? Sixteen inspectors were required just to ensure unfit animals were not loaded by an export company that has been prohibited from exporting sheep from Australia to the Middle East at this time of year. A leopard may be regulated but it doesn't change its spots. Bring on the phase out!

See NSPCA FACEBOOK 24 July : https://www.facebook.com/NSPCA

Up until now, ships have had to carry food for 3 extra days. Despite this, an analysis of the IO summaries revealed numerous voyages running out of food or running low on food. This occurred especially on trips to China. VALE published this information in a peer-reviewed scientific paper (Hing et al 2021). Was it this that finally cause the department to scrutinise? Or was it the sinking of the Gulf Livestock 1 (a ship running out of food so forced to run a storm)?

The ASEL review notes for fodder reserves state that 63% of voyages were underestimated, and for China voyages the average underestimate was 3.9 days. Three extra days of food isn't much help for 5more than 50% of voyages!

Worryingly, the department is not insisting on a minimum voyage length but is still sticking with the exporter estimates (which reflect either incompetence or unreliability) and actually reducing the food requirement by a day. Two days or 20%, whichever is greater, won't help the China voyages (or in fact 17% of voyages by the government calculation – see below).

So we will have the best welfare standards in the world but one in six voyages will run out of food?

Have Your Say on the ASEL Review. Vets should accompany all voyages – there is still no requirement for the cattle voyages to China (average voyage time 21 days – Hing et al 2021).

NOTE: The government reserve fodder proposal "indicated that 17% of all cattle consignments to single port destinations would have had insufficient fodder to complete the voyage without rationing below ASEL minimum levels, even with the reserve fodder loaded."