Live export

[10] According to the Department, ESCAS was developed in response to evidence of cruelty to Australian cattle in Indonesia, and then extended to all livestock exports for the purpose of slaughter.

[citation needed] Australia's live export industry has experienced significant scrutiny by animal welfare groups since 2003.

[14] A 2006 Freedom of Information report revealed sheep died on route due to several factors including heat stress, septicaemia and acute pneumonia.

[citation needed] In November 2012, another widely reported investigation by Animals Australia brought attention to the slaughter of 22,000 Australian sheep in an ESCAS-approved feedlot in Pakistan, after weeks at sea upon the initial consignment being rejected by Bahrain due to claimed fears of disease.

[29] In May 2013, evidence was provided to the Department of Agriculture showing what is alleged to be Australian goats being roughly handled and sold outside of approved facilities in Malaysia.

[31] Animals Australia report to have conducted a total of 30 separate investigations into the live export industry between May 2003 and April 2014.

[citation needed] In October 2012, World Animal Protection published a further piece of research into the live export trade.

This research found that if a cattle processing facility was built in the Northern Territory or North-Western Australia, in conjunction with live export, there would potentially be an increase of 245% or more in gross earnings for Australian cattle producers, more than 1,300 jobs for unemployed Australians and gross regional product growth of $204 million per annum.

Agriculture Ministers from individual states who make up the Council however, have deferred decisions on a package of reforms, including journey times, until 2011.

[citation needed] In September 2020, Dutch Agriculture Minister Carola Schouten requested the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council to adjust animal welfare regulations and limit the transport of livestock for slaughter; a special EU committee on animal transport commenced hearings in October.

[36] In late 2020, a regional court in Germany prohibited the live exportation of 132 breeding heifers because the conditions under which they would be slaughtered in Morocco would be "inhumane".

[citation needed] In November 2007, the New Zealand Government introduced the new Customs Exports Prohibition (Livestock for Slaughter) Order.

[37] On 14 April 2021, the Government of New Zealand announced that, in order to raise animal welfare standards, it had decided to phase out the export of livestock by sea by 2023 after a transition period of up to two years.

[38][39] New Zealand has partaken in no live animal exports for slaughter since 2003, after 4000 sheep died on a ship bound for Saudi Arabia.

[citation needed] The Port of Ramsgate temporarily halted live transport after an incident in 2012, when 40 sheep were euthanised after being badly injured during transit.

[citation needed] After his appointment as Secretary of State for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs, Michael Gove indicated in July 2017 that Brexit would offer the opportunity to ban live animal export for slaughter.

[43] UK Environment Secretary George Eustice unveiled plans to ban the export of live animals for slaughter and fattening from England and Wales on 3 December 2020.

[36] The plans still had to be finalised, would exclude poultry and not affect Northern Ireland (under EU law), but Scotland would probably follow the example of England and Wales.

[44] On Monday 20th May 2024, the Bill to ban the export of live animals from the United Kingdom to countries overseas received royal assent and officially became law.

[45] On 1 February 1995, English animal rights activist Jill Phipps was crushed to death under a lorry during a protest to stop the air export of live calves for veal near Coventry Airport.