Live export: Saudi live sheep market on the brink of reopening to Australia

WA could resume shipping sheep to Saudi Arabia as early as September, with one live export leader saying it could be the “shot in the arm the industry needs” amid declining numbers and a looming phase-out. Saudi Arabia imports more than five million sheep a year and was once among the biggest markets for Australia’s live sheep trade, importing 576,000 head worth $55 million in 2009. It stopped accepting Australian sheep in 2012 after the introduction of the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System: a strict set of regulations designed to ensure humane treatment of livestock right up to the point of slaughter. Though the market technically reopened in May 2021, ongoing commercial negotiations have delayed the resumption of shipments from Australia. Those negotiations are now nearing completion, with WA’s biggest live sheep exporter RETWA hoping to send its first shipment after Australia’s annual sheep shipping moratorium finishes in September. The news has been welcomed by industry leaders including Australian Live Exporters’ Council chief executive Mark-Harvey Sutton, who hailed it a win for WA sheep producers. “The fact there is such interest, despite the uncertainty that the (Australian Government’s) phase-out commitment has caused in the industry, demonstrates the demand for the product and the region,” he told Countryman. “It also demonstrates this is not a declining industry. “There’s new market opportunities that have been on the table for a long time; this has been a long commitment from the industry to try and reopen this market, and the opportunity exists for it to happen right now.” While ALEC was involved in negotiations that led to the necessary regulatory approvals for the Saudi market to reopen, commercial negotiations have largely been handled by Kuwait Livestock Transport and Trading Company. Through its subsidiary company Rural Export and Trading WA, KLTT purchases the bulk of Australia’s live export sheep, virtually all of which come from WA. KLTT chief executive Osama Boodai told media recently the company was now “very close” to regaining access to the Saudi market, which imported about 1.2 million Australian sheep a year at the height of the trade. “Once we get the approvals from the (Saudi) government, I think we are going to ship them immediately, maybe after the moratorium,” he told the ABC. “I think, easily, we can supply them with one million (head of sheep) annually.” When Australia — which exported 502,758 sheep in total last year — lost the Saudi Market in 2012, neighboring countries including Sudan and Somalia were quick to fill the gap. But Mr Boodai said demand was still there for high-quality Australian sheep. “We are trying to start again, shipping two shipments every month starting from next year, after we reopen Saudi Arabia,” he said. “The (Middle East) region, they want always the fresh meat which is slaughtered on the same day or one day (earlier).” Federal Labor has promised to ban the $136m live sheep trade but not during the current term of government, meaning the phase-out may not begin until 2025 or later. Mr Harvey-Sutton said the industry would keep fighting to save the trade and he hoped the Federal Government would “take notice”. “What we have on our doorstep is a burgeoning market ready to be reopened at a time when Western Australian producers need it the most, yet unfortunately there’s a bloody mindedness about the policy that is impacting a lot of confidence in the industry,” he said. “I hope this also demonstrates to producers that this is a growing trade and there are many opportunities that still exist, and that it should be allowed to continue. “This could be the shot in the arm that the industry needs right now.”