On Friday, New Zealand’s agriculture minister said that the nation had completed its final seaborne livestock exports and that live exports had ceased due to the country’s limitation on animal export shipments for welfare concerns.
Animals will no longer be exported after 2021, mostly to build herds in trading partners such as China, however, the government has given farmers two years to discover other revenue streams.
According to Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor, “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,” which is why live exports have been suspended.
Since 2015, live marine exports have contributed around 0.32% of New Zealand’s primary sector export profits.
The overall value of live animal exports in 2022 was NZ$524m ($322.78m).
Following the sinking of a ship carrying around 6,000 cows and 41 of the 43 crew members on its way to China in 2020, New Zealand initiated a review of live exports and established interim measures.
