LIVESTOCK exporters have welcomed the announcement of reforms to the livestock export certification process that’s set to cut red tape for on-shore activities in Australia.
The reforms will see the introduction of Approved Arrangements for livestock exporters from January 1, 2017.
In a statement, federal Agriculture and Water Resources Minister, Barnaby Joyce said the new regulations would reduce the regulatory burden by $1.2 million per annum, and allow exporters and the government to focus their attention and resources on areas of the highest risk while ensuring the highest standards of animal welfare are maintained through the supply chain.
“Approved Arrangements only apply to on-shore activities conducted within Australia, where existing animal welfare is strong, and do not change existing Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS) requirements in any way,” Mr Joyce said.
“These arrangements will help ensure the system focuses resources on areas of highest risk and encourage continual improvement by rewarding compliant exporter performance.”
Mr Joyce said that under Approved Arrangements, compliant exporters would be subject to streamlined verification processes, which would help free up their time and resources to focus on the most important parts of their business, including ensuring animal welfare standards are met.
“Under Approved Arrangements, instead of continually approving mountains of documents the department will be able to focus on exporters’ business systems, identifying areas of risk and ensuring exporters address any deficiencies before they escalate,” Mr Joyce said.
“Through an increased focus on exporters’ business systems, including a stronger emphasis on auditing, the department will be better able to ensure exporters consistently prepare livestock consignments that meet all regulatory requirements.
“This is one more way that this government is reducing unnecessary red tape, duplication of effort and administrative burden for our agricultural industries.
“This initiative complements recent live export reforms, including new audit requirements for ESCAS introduced in April this year that allow stronger scrutiny for poor performers and high-risk markets.”
Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council CEO Alison Penfold said the move to implement Approved Arrangements is welcomed by industry and aligns with reforms that exporters have long sought.
“The announcement brings live exports into line with the domestic export approval arrangements already in place for all other export industries regulated by the Department of Agriculture,” Ms Penfold said.
“Preparation for exporting requires two key constants - meeting the requirements of the Australian Standards for the Export of livestock (ASEL) and importing country health protocols. Under Approved Arrangements nothing changes and these requirements will have to be met.
“The vast majority of consignments occur to a limited number of markets, by the same exporters on a regular basis, so the move to the Approved Arrangements allows that ‘sameness’ to be recognised in a systems approach rather than consignment by consignment.
“While this is likely to reduce the cost of government services to exporters, exporters will have to invest in internal management systems to ensure compliance with their Approved Arrangement.
“That means actual costs faced by exporters may not be reduced by moving to Approved Arrangements.
“Not meeting an Approved Arrangement will have consequences for exporters and so there is very strong incentive to make this system work.
“Pilots of the arrangements are currently underway and learnings will help inform the exporter community and the government as the full rollout commences.”
