Link to Article: New Zealand to stop exporting livestock by sea
New Zealand will cease the export of livestock by sea following a transition period of up to two years, agriculture minister Damien O’Connor has said. Live exports by sea represent approximately 0.2% of New Zealand’s primary sector exports revenue since 2015. New Zealand has exported just one voyage of sheep in the past 13 years. Unlike Australia, New Zealand does not export live exports for slaughter, only for breeding.
Since the start of 2020, Kiwi exporters have sent 118,000 cattle overseas, all to China. TVNZ has reported the government informed the Chinese embassy a fortnight ago warning of the move. New Zealand said last year it was reviewing live exports when it introduced interim measures following the capsizing of a ship bound for China that killed nearly 6,000 cows and 41 of the 43 crew members.
Australia exported 170,657 breeding cattle in 2020, primarily to China and Pakistan, Goodfellow said. Some 500 Australian and New Zealand dairy cows died after being exported to Sri Lanka – a tenth of all the cattle sent to the country as part of a $100m scheme underwritten by the Australian government. Australian exporters told the ABC in 2019 that “poor farm management practices” by Sri Lankan farmers were to blame.