LIVESTOCK exporters will be telling the Northern Beef Steakholder Forum in Mt Isa today that the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS) needs refinement if Australia is to open up new markets for struggling northern producers and boost prices for their product.
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The regulatory burden and increased costs are frightening off potential new customers, according to Bernie Brosnan, the CEO of the Northern Territory Livestock Export Association (NTLEA).
This follows on from comments from the Shadow Agriculture and Food Security Minister John Cobb that the Coalition will look at ways of making ESCAS more user-friendly if it wins government, including less frequent audits and self-auditing processes.
Mr Cobb, who is also to address producers attending today’s forum, described the auditing process as laborious.
“We will retain the animal welfare side but lift the cost burden and the time factors,” he said.
“When you’ve got compliance staring you in the face every time you turn around, it’s costly.”
Mr Brosnan described the current regulations as the major impediment to establishing new markets.
“For instance, DAFF is moving to MOUs for all new importing countries, which are laborious and time-wasting," Mr Brosnan said.
“There is significant interest from Thailand and we could normally have something up and running by the end of the year, but if there’s an MOU it could take 18 months to two years.”
The danger the NTLEA sees in this is that it closes a window of opportunity to countries, who will chase other sources with greater ease of access.
Mr Brosnan said it was thanks to Australia’s long-standing relationship with Indonesia that meant ESCAS could get up and running there in a short space of time, but totally new countries found it hard to comprehend why it was needed.
“We are not saying we want ESCAS repealed,” he said. “We need to move in a timely manner but still give assurances to the general public. It’s a fine line.”
As well as giving Australian product good standing in the international community, domestic animals in countries overseas were reaping the benefits of improved welfare assurances.
The system requires an additional person for traceability purposes, plus administration support, at each end of each supply chain established, and has to report to the Department of Agriculture.
Mr Brosnan said it was hard to put a cost per head on that, but that establishing a supply chain cost between $50,000 and $100,000 in ESCAS requirements, with no guarantee of keeping that market to themselves once established.
“ESCAS needs to be refined – we had mark I, now we need mark II,” he said.
