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4.10 Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System ESCAS
In 2011, the Australian Government announced that all exports of livestock for slaughter would be required to supply evidence of an acceptable ESCAS before an
exporter can be issued with an approval to export. The legislative control of these procedures was implemented as an amendment to the Export Control Animal
Orders 2004 in February 2012
The ESCAS is based around the following four principles: 1. evidence of compliance with international World Organisation for Animal Health
standards for animal welfare; 2. evidence of effective traceability of animals within a supply chain through to
slaughter; 3. meet reporting and accountability requirements;
4. incorporate independent auditing. The ESCAS process has a managed transition period depending on livestock type
and destination and the dates by which systems must be in place for each of these combinations, are displayed on the DAFF website
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. With respect to sheep exports, ESCAS procedures had to be in place by 1 March
2012 for sheep being exported to Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Turkey. Exports of sheep to several additional countries Israel, Jordan, Malaysia, Oman,
Saudi Arabia, Singapore and United Arab Emirates must have ESCAS procedures in place by 1 September 2012 and then there are additional countries that must have
ESCAS procedures in place by January 2013.
Accountability for performance in the ESCAS system is applied to Australian exporters.
The exporters supply chain assurance system must include adequate records that account for:
the numbers loaded onto and unloaded from the ship; the number of animals that enter and exit each facility within the approved supply
chain; the number of non–slaughter mortalities within the approved supply chain;
the number of animals slaughtered within the approved supply chain; and
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http:www.daff.gov.auaqisexportlive ‐animalslivestockescas
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the number of animals on–sold as breeders the regulatory framework does not apply to breeder animals
The ESCAS auditing requirement is expected to check supply chain traceabilityaccounting records to identify whether the system can account for the
sheep in the supply chain. Independent audit reports will be completed every two months for the first six months of a new supply chain, and then at a frequency
determined by a risk–based approach involving a minimum of three audits per year.
The ESCAS will be expected to provide complete accounting for all animals in an export supply chain until natural death or slaughter. There is recognition that QA
systems have to recognise the inherent variability associated with human error but in general there is no acceptable level of leakage of animals from the whole-of-chain
system for animals that cannot be accounted for.
While ESCAS has a whole-of-chain application, the area where most procedures need to be developed and implemented is in the period from discharge to slaughter
in the destination country or countries. At the time this report was prepared information available on the DAFF website indicated that ESCAS audits would focus
primarily on the part of the supply chain beginning with discharge of animals from the ship.
With respect to the scope and objectives of this review the relevant requirements arising from ESCAS are:
As animals move from the export depot, exporters must verifyensure that all animals have an NLIS ear tag.
All animals must be counted onto the shipaircraft. These two requirements lay the foundations for the whole-of-chain QA system that is
fundamental to the ESCAS.
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4.11 Australian Senate inquiry into animal welfare standards in live export markets
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