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6.4 Origins of ASEL requirements
The Farmer Review states that: Standards need to be clear, essential causally related with mortality or otherwise
scientifically based, consistent and verifiable. Farmer 2011, p xv
The ASEL provides little or no information to support or justify some of the specific requirements relating to sheep exported to the Middle East between May-October.
A review of the literature and of information available on the Australian Government websites parliamentary documents and documents available on the DAFF website did not provide a clear
explanation of the origin or scientific justification for these requirements.
The following section provides background to the development of the wording in the current ASEL. A 1985 report on Export of live sheep from Australia by the Senate Select Committee on Animal
Welfare provided background information on animal welfare issues and concerns. The report included discussion of apparent increased risk of mortality in winter months, identified a high
mortality event in sheep in a Victorian registered premise in March that was attributed to the combination of a severe cold weather change and sheep that were just off shears, included
discussion of the possibility that sheep from pastoral or low rainfall areas do not adapt well to the confinement of feedlots or ship pens, and discussed but did not proceed with a decision to ban the
sheep export trade during the three Australian winter months when conditions are at their worst in southern waters as well as in the Middle East.
This report indicates that many of the issues related to the current ASEL had been at least identified as issues in the 1985 report. Earlier sections in this review have identified the factors leading up to
reviews in 1999, 2002 and the Keniry Review in 2003. Scrutiny of the reports and recommendations arising from these reviews does not provide detailed science-based evidence to support the wording
of the current ASEL.
In the period from 2000-2002, there were concerns expressed about losses from salmonellosis during live sheep export feedlotting More, 2002a. Outbreaks were noted in sheep that had been
maintained in assembly feedlots in paddocks in Western Australia, Victoria and South Australia. These incidents coincided with tremendous increases in throughput of sheep as the total number of
sheep exported from Australia rose dramatically to peak in 2001.
More 2002a noted that there had been few detailed outbreak investigations and that diagnoses were mostly based on clinical presentation alone.
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More 2002a went on to indicate that outbreaks were more common in the winter months and coincided with high feedlot throughput. In addition the following observation was made:
Although not consistently affected, high-risk lines include young animals, animals in poor condition and long-haul and pastoral animals. Risk of disease is substantially higher if
animals arrive when the weather is cold, windy and wet.
More 2002a, p15 More 2002a also refers to an industry review meeting in Adelaide in August 2002 that developed
recommendations for best practice for preparation of sheep and goats. In October 2002, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry imposed a temporary ban on
live sheep exports from Portland. The ban was lifted by November 2002 with additional requirements to be met by industry. These requirements were described in media reports from the time and
appeared to be similar to those subsequently described in the Initial Standards for the Export of Livestock
21
. Standard 3.9 from the Initial Standards for the Export of Livestock released in November 2004,
contained the following wording: Export to the Middle East
a The operator of pre-embarkation registered premises must not prepare the following classes of sheep for export to the Middle East by ship during the period from May to October,
because these classes pose higher risks of inanition andor salmonellosis:
i. For livestock held in paddocks: – pastoral and station sheep;
– lambs no permanent incisors; and – sheep and goats that have been transported more than 800 km or held on
trucks for more than eighteen 18 hours. ii. For livestock held in paddocks or sheds:
– full-mouth wethers with a fat score greater than 4; – broken-mouth sheep; and
21
http:www.spec.com.aublog20021101ban ‐on‐sheep‐exports‐lifted
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– pregnant ewes. b All sheep for export to the Middle East by ship during the period from May to October held
in paddocks in the pre-embarkation registered premises must have wool length not more than 2.5 cm and must be at least ten 10 days off shears on arrival at the premises.
It seems likely that the wording of the initial Standard 3.9 has incorporated inputs from industry review groups and from reports completed about that time More, 2002a.
There are a number of issues relating to the meaning of various terms in the ASEL.
6.5 Southern ports