Australian standards for livestock export

Recently, new Australian standards for the export of livestock were introduced. The new Standards are known as Version 2.1 and were updated in April 2007. The livestock species covered by these standards include cattle, sheep, goats, buffalo, deer and camelids (camels, llama, alpaca and vicunas).The new standards cover:

sourcing and on-farm preparation of livestock
land transport of livestock for export
management of livestock in registered premises
vessel preparation and loading
on-board management of livestock
air transport of livestock.

The standards will apply to breeders of livestock for export as well as others involved in the export process, who should incorporate the standards into their quality assurance systems. The standards are available from the AQIS website at www.daff.gov.au

Note that you can only export live animals through an exporter licensed by AQIS.

Exporting merino rams

The requirements for the export of Merino rams and reproductive material are contained in the Livestock Export (Merino) Orders No 1 of 1990 which takes into account all amendments to the original order up to October 2006.

In addition the DAFF website contains the Australian Association of Stud Merino Breeders Ltd Guidelines and conditions for Merino Export Sales and Nomination of Merino Rams as Export Semen Donors, as at January 2009. Click on the underlined title to access the Guidelines etc.

Contacts and further information

If you wish to export animal products you need to be aware of the contents of the Export Control Act 1982 (Cth), Export Control Orders issued under the Act (see the DAFF website at www.daff.gov.au ), the Australian Standards for the Export of Livestock (if applicable), EXDOC for documentation and the ANIMEX database.

The Export page on the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry website contains further information of export requirements as well as links to legislation, documentation and databases. Visit the site at www.daff.gov.au .