- WA Government welcomes move towards more credible regulation of live export trade after years of Federal Government neglect
The Western Australian Government has welcomed the recommendations of the Moss Review into the Federal Government's regulator of live exports.
The Moss Review found major deficiencies in the capability and culture of the Federal regulator, and was critical of the long delay in reviewing the standards that govern live exports.
The review has recommended:
- An independent Inspector General of Live Animal Exports;
- An animal welfare branch be reinstated within the Federal department;
- More regular review of standards for livestock export, and prescription of standards in regulation; and
- Clarification of interactions between Federal and State laws.
The WA Government welcomes the Federal Government's decision to accept all recommendations from the report.
As noted by Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan:
"It has been clear to us for years that the Federal Government's decision to remove all animal welfare architecture from the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources led to the appalling conditions we saw on board the Awassi Express and some other export ships.
"We welcome that the Federal Government has finally been forced to face reality: this report is an indictment on the behaviour of the Federal Government over the past five years, and these recommendations are a good first step towards restoring confidences in the trade.
"An independent Inspector General of Live Animal Exports is absolutely critical to restore confidence in the regulation of live exports. We also strongly support the recommendation to examine automated monitoring of animal welfare indicators on board vessels to ensure greater transparency of conditions on ships.
"This report vindicates our decision to use WA laws to try to fill the gap left by Federal Government inaction.
"In the absence of any real Federal regulation of live exports, the WA Government was obliged to act and begin investigating high-mortality live export shipments to ensure no breaches of provisions of the State Animal Welfare Act.
"If these recommendations are properly implemented and standards modernised and enforced, we would not expect similar action to be required in future."
