Industry and RSPCA satisfied with dairy shipment to Japan

The recent shipment of 980 Holstein Friesian and Swiss dairy cattle to Japan from the port of Newcastle has been hailed as a success by the live export industry. The two senior RSPCA officers, present to oversee the loading and report on animal welfare concerns, expressed their satisfaction with the process.

David Gardiner, of Austock Rural, believes the shipment has demonstrated that the Newcastle Port has the potential to play an important role in servicing the Asia Pacific region with small consignments of livestock of 1,500 head or less.

This was the first shipment out of Newcastle for nearly 30 years and was primarily brought about by the new "Australian Standards for the Export of Livestock" and the new requirements regarding the distance livestock are allowed to travel following inspection by AQIS in quarantine.

Given the limited number of suitable replacement dairy cattle in Japan, the cattle exported are to be used in complementing the genetic makeup of Japanese dairy herds.

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