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2010-11
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Livestock Export (Animal Welfare Conditions) Bill 2011
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
Circulated by authority of
Andrew Wilkie MP
Livestock Export (Animal Welfare Conditions) Bill 2011
Clause 1: Short Title
1. This clause is a formal provision and specifies the short title of the Bill, once
enacted, as the Livestock Export (Animal Welfare Conditions) Act 2011.
Clause 2: Commencement
2. This clause provides for the commencement of all Sections of the Act the day after
the Act receives the Royal Assent
Schedule 1 - Amendments
Australian Meat and Live-stock Industry Act 1997
Item 1: Section 7
1. Item 1 creates a definition of "treated humanely" in relation to live-stock.
2. This definition states that to be treated humanely, live-stock must be kept in
accordance with relevant sections of the Australian Standards for the Export of
Livestock, as published by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry;
transported in accordance with the international guidelines set out in the Terrestrial
Animal Health Code as published by the World Organisation for Animal Health; and
slaughtered in accordance with clauses 7.9 to 7.12 of the Australian standard for
the hygienic production of meat and meat products for human consumption (AS
4696:2007), which mandates stunning prior to slaughter, and contains limited
exceptions for approved ritual slaughter arrangements whereby animals may be
stunned immediately after being stuck.
Item 2: After section 17
3. Item 2 inserts a Section 17A into the Act, which states that if the Secretary has
reasonable grounds to believe that live-stock exported under a live-stock export
licence will not be treated humanely, the Secretary must act to ensure that either
the live-stock is treated humanely or that the live-stock is no longer exported.
Item 3: After section 55
4. Item 3 inserts a section 55A into the Act, which creates an offence with a penalty of
50 penalty units. The offence applies if the holder of a live-stock export licence has
evidence that would reasonably suggest that live-stock being exported under the
licence is not being treated humanely and fails to inform the Secretary in writing of
that evidence.
Item 4: Application
5. Item 4 states that the amendments to the Act shall not apply during the transitional
period, where a live-stock export licence has been granted before the beginning of
this transitional period and a contract to export live-stock has been entered into
before the beginning of the transitional period.
6. Item 4 also defines the transitional period to be the period of 6 months that begins
from the commencement day listed in Clause 2.