Eid sheep leak sparks exporter review

This is the call from WA live exporter Wellard after allegations Australian sheep were found outside approved supply chains in Oman last week.

Wellard chief executive officer Mauro Balzarini said the company invests heavily both financially and in human resources in working with its importers to ensure the integrity of the supply chain while meeting the demands of their customers.

"It is now crucial that importers who remain ESCAS compliant in any markets are rewarded and those that choose to systemically rort the system are excluded from buying Australian sheep, because that is how we can make sure the animal welfare outcome is always optimum," Mr Balzarini said.

"We also commend our Omani livestock importer, Al Batina, for its commitment to the program. It is frustrating for them to be confined to the central abattoir in Muscat, as it is the only facility to adopt a carcase-only program to avoid risk of leakage at other markets in Oman, while seeing competitors taking unfair advantage and making big profits, because this is the heart of the problem.

"ESCAS compliance costs importers hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost sales and their exporters similar amounts in extra staff and costs.

"If their competitors pocket the extra money and can continue to do that with little penalty, then compliance becomes a disincentive and the system becomes a farce.

"This industry is too important to let it be jeopardised by the behaviour of a few."

The Department of Agriculture and Water (DoAW) and Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) found that Australian sheep were detected outside the ESCAS supply chain in Oman after they were supplied a list of ear tag details.

Wellard was one of three Australian live exporters that reported finding sheep from Australia in several markets in Oman, which were not approved under the ESCAS, in the lead up to the festival Eid al Adha.

Wellard confirmed that all animals found outside the supply chain originated from properties which were different to the properties from where it sourced sheep for its consignment to Oman.

Wellard said it is co-operating with DoAW officers to confirm that none of its sheep have been processed outside the approved supply chain and has extra staff in Oman to assist its importer properly deal with animal welfare.

"Assuming no evidence of non-compliance emerges, and we have every expectation that will be the case given the systems we have in place and the commitment of our importer to ESCAS, then it will be three years out of the last four that Wellard has been ESCAS compliant during Eid," Mr Balzarini said.

"That is a great track record given Eid Al Adha is a period of such great intensity, and I would expect that it is an industry-leading record."

Emanuel Exports also shipped sheep to Oman and said it was doing a complete review of the Eid period.

"We will be taking all the appropriate action as the evidence comes to light," Mr Daws said.

"We will be doing that review too, but we need to know the complete and factual detail, not the rumours of others."

Australian Livestock Exporters' Council chief executive officer Alison Penfold last week said exporter representatives took action to engage the Omani traders and the public to bring as many sheep back into approved supply chains as it could.

Under ESCAS requirements, Australian livestock must not be sold outside of approved supply chains and cannot be purchased for home slaughter or for slaughter at facilities that have not been approved as meeting international animal welfare standards.

"Exporters have Australian staff on the ground in Oman supervising the management arrangements at the main operating approved abattoir for Australian sheep over Eid al Adha, but also have other Australian and locally engaged staff checking in at local markets for illegally removed sheep," she said.

"Through this process Australian sheep have been identified and efforts are being made by relevant personnel to recover, return or at least direct the local traders and buyers to have the sacrificial slaughter undertaken at the ESCAS-approved facility Central Slaughterhouse in Muscat.

"We acknowledge that Animals Australia have also had an investigator in Oman and they have separately identified sheep on private sale by local traders at one location and this was reported to the department last Tuesday.

"The report was immediately responded to with staff sent to the location to prevent further sales. Recovery and return of the sheep to Australian systems was not able to be facilitated but exporter staff have returned to the facility to try again."

Ms Penfold said that these incidents, while reflecting the commercial desperation of local traders to offer Australian sheep to the public, very much undermined the collaborative efforts of exporters in Oman to develop the special livestock management systems for Eid.

"This year we have further extended the use of additional supply chain control in markets like Oman," she said.

"Additional restrictions on the number and manner by which Australian sheep will be available to the public has been put in place but undertaken in a manner that allows the public to practice important religious observances of Eid al Adha such as donating meat to the poor.

"Different approaches have been undertaken by the two exporters based on their own risk analyses of the various facilities.

"In Oman, one exporter has restricted sales of Australian sheep to one abattoir in Muscat to concentrate supervision and oversight of Australian sheep through this high demand two to three day festival period.

"The other exporter is operating live supervised sales out of a limited number of facilities.

"The main facility used by both exporters only uses the 'Mecca model' of a ticket-based carcase sales system.

"This ticket system allows local consumers to buy tickets at one end of the facility and collect carcases at the other.

"In between the only people handling and slaughtering the livestock are trained stockmen and slaughtermen who are practiced in halal requirements and operating in abattoirs that meet the Australian ESCAS requirements.''