The organisation said the “shocking animal cruelty” that had emerged was common in the live export trade, and urged a move towards a meat-only export trade.
It insisted that the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS), the system put in place by the government to protect Australian livestock in foreign markets following revelations of abuse in Indonesia in 2011, did not provide adequate welfare protection.
Pointing out that instances of abuse caused shocks to the live export market, it claimed that it was in the interest of both farmers and livestock to ban live exports.
“The live export industry is a high-risk industry. Over recent months we have seen the live exporters themselves put in place voluntary suspensions of trade to Bahrain and Egypt – because even they don’t think these countries meet the most basic animal welfare requirements,” said president of RSPCA Australia Lynne Bradshaw.
“It is these overnight market shocks and interruptions to trade that create uncertainty and have the most impact on producers. And they will continue to occur.”
Australian industry
Bradshaw added that investing in a meat processing facilities in Australia would also be beneficial to farmers.
“For the northern Australian cattle industry, if there was an abattoir operating in Darwin right now, producers in Western Queensland and the Northern Territory would at least have another option available to them for their cattle,” she said.
“I’m sure that the majority of urban Australia would think positively of a government that supported this type of infrastructure development – it is key to building our meat export opportunities out of northern Australia.”