Livestock exporters will receive $8.3 million over four years to assist the industry to implement the Livestock Global Assurance Program (LGAP). 

During a visit to Central Queensland on 12 March, Minister Joyce and local Member for Flynn Ken O’Dowd said the program will maintain the high standards of animal welfare that underpin the trade.

The Deputy Prime Minister said the LGAP is an industry-led scheme that will improve the efficiency and competitiveness of live exporters.

“However the government will still remain the regulator of the Australian livestock export industry,” Joyce said.

“While the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS) has delivered significant improvements to animal welfare, it imposes a significant regulatory and financial burden, costing government and industry an estimated $17.6 million annually,” he said.

“The value of livestock exports since October 2013 now sits just shy of $5 billion, an incredible return to the nation delivered by rural and regional Australia and a return to the farm gate for the efforts of farmers.” 

Ken O’Dowd said the new LGAP program is a practical approach to secure and improve outcomes for the livestock export industry.

“The program is a step towards reducing that burden and improving the independence, integrity, transparency and accountability of the live animal export trade,” O’Dowd said.

Member for Capricornia Michelle Landry said the investment reflected the government’s commitment to the returns the live export industry delivers to the national economy, to local communities and to families at the farmgate. 

“Australia exported almost $1.8 billion worth of livestock in 2015–16, across an industry that generates domestic employment of up to 10 000 people,” Landry said.

“The government is pleased to support systems that strengthen the basis of our national exports and reduce the burden on farmers, like those in Flynn, as they work to benefit the nation,” she said.

The ESCAS performance report released in January 2015 demonstrates that more than 99 per cent of Australian livestock were exported without reported incident since the introduction of ESCAS exporting almost $1.8 billion worth of livestock in 2015-16.