WHEN American animal welfare expert Temple Grandin takes the floor at the LIVEXchange conference in Darwin today, she will have just toured the Indonesian supply chain that handles Australian live-exported cattle.
Dr Grandin’s response, guaranteed to be put with her typical bluntness, will be instructive on how far the live export industry has shifted the animal welfare needle since 2011.
In 2013, Dr Grandin told the ABC that everything possible, including live surveillance of abattoirs, should be used to stop welfare abuses.
“I want Australian management of those plants, and then we're going to have a whole bunch of inspections, third party auditors, internal audits, possibly video auditing, because I'm really sick and tired of bad things happen when the back is turned."
On the invitation of the Meat and Livestock Australia/Livecorp Livestock Export Program, Dr Grandin will do a tour of Indonesian livestock handling facilities and then track the supply chain back to northern cattle stations before presenting her findings at LIVEXchange, the Australian live exporters conference today.
To doubly ensure that the industry is confronted with its welfare responsibilities, the other LIVEXchange keynote speaker is Dr Bernard Vallat, the Director General of the World Organisation for Animal Health and Welfare (OIE).
The two keynotes set the tone for the Darwin conference, Australian Live Exporters Council (ALEC) chief executive Alison Penfold said.
“Dr Vallat and the OIE have a unique “line of sight” on the challenges of improving animal welfare, lifting standards and changing knowledge and behaviour towards animals across very different geographic, cultural, economic and religious circumstances.
“At the 2012 LIVEXchange Conference in Townsville, the OIE’s Dr Derek Bolton recognised Australia’s live export trade as leading the world in animal welfare and we look forward to Dr Vallat’s assessment of our performance in implementing OIE welfare standards three years on.”
The two-day conference program, built around the theme “People, Perspective and Responsibility”, introduces a range of Australian and international speakers on topics ranging from trade and market access, to research, development and extension, and community engagement.
An MLA-sponsored producer forum will consider the livestock export industry and the Livestock Export Program (LEP).
Other forums, a trade show and a gala dinner will also be held during the event, a partnership between LiveCorp, Australian Livestock Exporters Council (ALEC) and the Northern Territory Livestock Exporters Association (NTLEA).
LIVEXchange is in Darwin on November 25-26.
More: www.livexchangeconference.com.au