New Zealand’s last exports of livestock by sea have been completed and live exports have ceased, New Zealand Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor said yesterday, as the country implemented a ban on export shipments of animals on the grounds of their welfare.
The New Zealand government in 2021 announced that shipping animals offshore, largely for building herds in trading partners such as China, would be halted, but farmers would be given two years to transition out of the profitable export business.
“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,” O’Connor said in a statement.
Photo: AFP
Live exports by sea have contributed about 0.32 percent of New Zealand’s primary sector export revenue, which includes farming and mining, since 2015.
The total value of live animal exports last year was NZ$524 million (US$321.1 million).
New Zealand in 2020 said that it was reviewing live exports when it introduced interim measures following the capsizing of a ship bound for China that killed nearly 6,000 cows and 41 of its 43 crew members.
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