A visit to Darwin by Indonesian transport authorities this week has provided further evidence of the positive role Australia's live export industry is playing in improving animal welfare outcomes in other countries, according to the Northern Territory Live Exporters Association. 

The NTLEA coordinated and hosted a visit to Darwin by Indonesian Transport Minister Mangindaan and a delegation of 13 officials from Jakarta.

NTLEA chief executive officer Bernie Brosnan said Minister Mangindaan and his colleagues wanted to see first-hand how Australia transports its cattle.

“Indonesia considers Australia to be world leaders in cattle handling and want to learn and adopt our best practise methods in handling cattle in yards, loading trucks, discharging trucks onto ships and discharging ships onto trucks,” Mr Brosnan said.

The delegation saw a presentation on Northern Territory cattle production, toured East Arm Wharf to see a cattle boat, and visited one of the isolation and quarantine yards at Noonamah, where cattle are held pre-embarkation.

“The Minister is very conscious that they need to improve transportation of their own cattle in general, but more particularly when sourcing cattle from their many outer islands.

“Welfare and efficiency in transportation are their key motivators when considering how to better access and transport these animals to mainland Java or Sumatra,” Mr Brosnan said.

Due to the continuing dual impact of Australia’s Federal government suspension to trade in live cattle exports, and Indonesia’s focus on beef self-sufficiency by 2014, Indonesian consumers are experiencing record high beef prices.

Wet market beef is selling in excess of 100,000 rupiah per kilo (or AUD$10/kg) which puts beef out of reach of most householders. As a result, local farmers are getting record prices and are keen to sell but many cannot supply to the mainland in a timely and efficient manner.

The Indonesian Transport Minister said during the visit that Indonesia wants to establish dedicated vessels to transport cattle from the outer islands to the mainland, carrying around 500 plus cattle, which is much smaller than the

Australian ships. They also need to improve infrastructure at smaller ports to improve loading and unloading of the cattle.

“This visit by the Minister is clear evidence the new export regulatory system,ESCAS, which was introduced as a result of the suspension in 2011, is providing very positive animal welfare outcomes above and beyond its original intentions – and that’s great news for all concerned,” Mr Brosnan said.

Source: NTLEA