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2017
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Live Animal Export Prohibition (Ending Cruelty) Bill 2017
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
and
STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS
Circulated by authority of
Andrew Wilkie MP
Live Animal Export Prohibition (Ending Cruelty) Bill 2017
OUTLINE
This bill seeks to permanently ban the export of live animals for slaughter from 1 July 2020, and
puts in place steps to ensure that, in the interim, live animals are treated humanely after they are
exported.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The bill will have no financial impact.
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Clause 1: Short Title
1. This clause is a formal provision and specifies the short title of the Bill as the Live Animal
Export Prohibition (Ending Cruelty) Bill 2017.
Clause 2: Commencement
2. This clause provides for the commencement of the Act on the day it receives Royal Assent.
Clause 3: Schedules
3. This clause establishes that, as the intent of the Bill is to be realised through amendments
to another Act, the Schedules of this Bill will amend that Act accordingly.
Schedule 1
Australian Meat and Livestock Act 1997
Item 1: Section 3
1. Item 1 inserts a definition of "live-stock for slaughter" into the Act.
Item 2: At the end of section 10
2. Item 2 specifies that an export license will not permit a person to export live-stock for
slaughter on or after 1 July 2020.
Item 3: After section 16
3. Item 3 inserts a section 16A into the Act, which specifies that an export license holder must
meet certain conditions. This is intended to provide interim animal welfare safeguards
between the date the Act receives Royal Assent and 1 July 2020, when the ban
commences.
4. Section 16A(1) requires the license holder to take all reasonable steps to ensure that live-
stock are treated satisfactorily in the country of destination, and to notify the Secretary
within 14 days if this has not occurred. A definition of "treated satisfactorily" is inserted
into the Export Control Act by item 4.
5. Section 16A(3) clarifies that 16(A)(1)(a) does not apply when an exporter has a transitional
exemption under the Export Control Act. Circumstances where a transitional exemption
can be granted are specified in item 4.
Export Control Act 1982
Item 4: After Part IIA
6. Item 4 inserts a section 9N into the Act, which declares that before 1 July 2020, live-stock
for slaughter are prescribed goods and that the Secretary must be satisfied that the live-
stock will be treated satisfactorily in the country of destination or that they have grounds
for a transitional exemption.
7. Section 9N(5) specifies that live-stock for slaughter are considered to be treated
satisfactorily in the country of destination when they are kept in premises that comply with
the Department of Agriculture's Holding Standards, transported and slaughtered in
accordance with the OIE Guidelines (published by the World Organisation for Animal
Health), and stunned before slaughter. Exact definitions of these terms are found in section
9N(8).
8. Section 9N(6) allows the Secretary to take into account when forming a view as to whether
or not live-stock are treated satisfactorily any undertakings by, or contractual or legislative
obligations in the country of export, and any history of exports to the same persons or
country.
9. Section 9N(7) states the grounds for a transitional exemption, which is that the exporter is
eligible for an exemption if the new requirements put the exporter in a breach of contract
entered into before the commencement day, in certain situations.
10. Section 9N(8) clarifies the definitions of "Holding Standards" and "OIE Guidelines", among
other definitions.
11. Item 4 also inserts a section 9P into the Act which permanently bans the export of live-
stock for slaughter from 1 July 2020.
STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
Live Animal Export Prohibition (Ending Cruelty) Bill 2017
This bill is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the
international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act
2011.
Overview of the bill
This bill seeks to permanently ban the export of live animals for slaughter from 1 July 2020, and
puts in place steps to ensure that, in the interim, live animals are treated humanely after they are
exported.
Human rights implications
This bill does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms.
Conclusion
This bill is compatible with human rights because it does not raise any human rights issues.
Andrew Wilkie MP