Live Export Trade - Can Reforms Improve Welfare?

In Australia, the government has expressed its continued support for Australia's live export trade.

Following the Independent Review of Australia’s Livestock Export Trade, reforms of the live trade will role out over coming months.

Under reforms exporters will need to ensure the following:

Trace and account for animals through the supply chain;
Handle and process animals at or better than internationally accepted standards for animals welfare (as established by OIE);
Control the movement of animals within their supply chain;
Conduct independent verification and performance audits of their supply chains against these new requirements.
The reforms have been welcomed by the export industry, as many farmers and families including livestock producers, truck drivers and small businesses rely on the trade.

The reform will ensure that if animal welfare issues do arise in overseas markets in the future, the Australian Government will have the ability to address these issues without closing entire markets.

Animal welfare groups have expressed disappointment that un-stunned slaughter will be allowed to continue. Mandatory stunning was not mentioned in the review or its recommendations.

“This review was an opportunity to properly protect animals at the point of slaughter but instead there is no recommendation on stunning and the government has made no commitment to require it,” RSPCA Australia CEO Heather Neil said.

It is hoped that the new framework will be phased in and will be implemented in stages with 75 per cent of trade covered by February and for all trade by the end of 2012.

Regardless of how much the Australian industry and public want this, will the welfare of animals slaughtered abroad improve at all? Can the Australian government change the attitudes of foreign abattoir workers?