Farm commodities account for 70 percent of New Zealand’s exports, and of those, live animal exports earned the country over $322 million just last year. Yet, this month, the country is following through with a new law that’s bringing live animal exports to a screeching halt.
According to Reuters, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said in a statement announcing that live exports had ceased, “Our position on the map means that the journey to northern hemisphere markets will always be a long one and this brings unavoidable animal welfare challenges.”
Cattle sold to the country’s sole buyer, China, earned the country $300 million just last year. Reports indicate that of these 135,000 head of cattle shipped to China, 64 didn’t make it last year. While any losses are certainly undesirable, that’s just 0.04 percent.
As a remote area, animal exports have to occur by sea. A livestock ship, the Gulf Livestock 1, sank in a storm three years ago, 41 crew members and 6,000 head of cattle died, sparking the ban.
Not surprisingly, animal activists are in favor of the new law. Meanwhile, farming stakeholders aren’t.
The effects will be far reaching. One cattle producer, Brian Pearson told Al Jazeera English, “This on a personal level will be 100 percent of my income gone.” Pearson continued, “If I want to carry on in this industry, I have to go to Australia — I have to leave.”
New Zealand’s government announced that it would stop the export of livestock by sea in April 0f 2021 over a period of two years to allow for a transition period.
In addition to their ban of livestock exports, New Zealand also unveiled plans last year to begin taxing farming emissions.
