Australian Livestock Exporters Council CEO Simon Westaway has saluted Australian sheep and cattle exporters with Malaysian supply chains for taking a no-nonsense approach to compliance issues. Westaway commended the way Australian exporters stuck to the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS) during the Korban festival.
Under rules stipulated in the ESCAS, Australian livestock must not be sold outside of approved supply chains and are not allowed to be sold for home slaughter or for slaughter at abattoirs that do not meet international welfare standards.
“Poor welfare outcomes are never condoned nor excused by exporters,” said Westaway in a statement.
“As shown in the past month, not only in Malaysia for Korban, but in the Middle East during Eid al Adha, transparency and accountability are important at all times in our industry and absolutely pivotal when problems in the supply chain are detected.”
Supply chain leakage
Westaway added that concerned exporters were working with Australia’s Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (DAWR) in investigations regarded “leakages” – livestock sold outside approved supply chains. The DAWR could not be reached to comment on the investigations at the time of writing.
“Wherever deliberate supply chain breaches occur, the extensive powers regulating our markets should be exercised accordingly,” commented Westaway
“Australian exporters have acted swiftly to identify non-compliant facilities in Malaysia, so that where there is clear evidence that our livestock export standards have not been respected, immediate market sanctions can be applied.
“Our message to the Malaysian supply chain is very simple. Just as Australian exporters must treat their ESCAS compliance obligations as absolute non-negotiables, our Malaysian partners and customers must do the same.”