Amendments made to Middle East summer live sheep exports

Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment is reviewing sheep exports by sea to, or through, the Middle East during the Northern Hemisphere summer, defined as May 1 to October 31.

As an interim measure to continue to manage heat stress risks and to provide sufficient time for industry to prepare for the period, the Export Control (Animals) Rules 2021 (Animals Rules) were amended on April 5. These amendments affect arrangements for May and June starting this year.

The changes are based on updated climatology data which indicated that changes should be made for the commencement of the summer period. In particular, the climatology data indicated an increased heat stress risk (above the threshold set in 2020) for voyages to some Persian Gulf destinations in late May and a reduced risk for voyages to or through the Red Sea during early June.

The key changes are that sheep must not be exported to Persian Gulf destinations (including Qatar but not Oman and Kuwait) by sea on a vessel that leaves an Australian port from May 22 to 31 unless additional conditions to mitigate heat stress risks are met, and sheep can now be exported to or through the Red Sea from June 1 to 14. Export during this period was previously prohibited.

The additional conditions for the 10-day period for Persian Gulf destinations other than Oman and Kuwait, include measures to improve sheep heat tolerance, such as shorter fleece length and maximum sheep weight limits (for example, 56kg for Merinos) and measures to decrease the deck wet bulb temperatures, such as minimum pen air turnover rates and increased pen space allowance.

The conditions about the pen air turnover for the vessel do not apply to sheep exported to Kuwait, which has a notably cooler microclimate, or to Oman, where exports are prohibited during this period due to the high temperatures and humidity and therefore increased heat stress risks.

On February 28, the department advised it would undertake additional stakeholder engagement on the review due to high levels of interest, the complexity of the issues, the important implications for animal welfare and the practical requirements of any change to export processes.

The department is now considering the feedback received, available science and evidence and is conducting further analyses. Arrangements for the Northern Hemisphere summer will be finalised when the review is completed by the end of June 2022.

The department will contribute funding and also work with LiveCorp and industry on new research during permitted periods. The research will further ascertain and align sheep physiological and behavioural changes observed during a voyage with other data. This will include additional onboard data collection including using automated rumen data loggers to continuously measure sheep core body temperature.