RED-COATED cattle is a prerequisite for Vietnam-based Anh Khai Ky (AKK) feedlot owner Nguyen Thanh Thuyen, who imports more than 25,000 head of Australian cattle annually.
Mr Thuyen’s obsession with the colour stems from the country’s common Lai Sind breed; and is one of many challenges faced by Australian exporters working with the Vietnamese beef industry.
“One of our key challenges is educating our customers on different breeds and characteristics of cattle that will perform well in Vietnam,” North Australian Cattle Company, Elders’ northern Australia export licence, manager Patrick Underwood said.
“We try and spend a lot of time to work through the economics of things and demonstrate that cattle welfare will always get them the best economic outcome.”
The young Vietnamese market has grown to be the second biggest market for Australian live cattle since 2013, with numbers growing from 67,000 head in 2013 to a forecast of 380,000 head this year.
While it is a burgeoning trade for Australia’s live export industry, the trade relationship has recently come under fire with the release of confronting footage of cattle being inhumanely slaughtered.
“(Vietnamese importers) need to be accountable that each and every animal that goes to Vietnam is treated in a respectful and appropriate manner that is agreeable to the Australian government, Australian people and Australian exporters,” Mr Underwood said.
He said the Australian industry was taking extraordinary “big brother” measures to track and trace the movement of cattle to ensure importers were adhering to the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS).
This includes 24 hours a day monitoring of stock in Vietnam feedlots and abattoirs with closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras, managed by Jakarta-based Global Compliance Asia.
“Clearly, (ESCAS) has been a big challenge in a country like Vietnam who has a very natural trading mentality…,” Mr Underwood said.
“All Australian exporters have a lot of resources up here because it is a market not without its challenges.
“There are seven Australian exporters that have come here unified, and sat down with importers to explain the way it is going to be because there will never be a compromise for animal welfare.”
Beyond animal welfare, Mr Underwood said part of their education had been focused on carcase quality.
“We are trying to correct the assumption that big is best – we want to talk more about carcase yields and feed conversions,” he said.
- Annabelle Beale travelled to Vietnam as a guest of Elders.