AUSTRALIA SUSPENDS LIVESTOCK EXPORTS TO INDONESIA

By Andi Adussalam

Jakarta, June 4 (ANTARA) - Australia which last year shipped  $300 million worth of livestock to Indonesia, may have decided to suspend the exports in an effort to bolster the volume of its frozen meat exports to its Southeast Asian neighbor.          "It would be more profitable for Australia to export meat rather than slaughter cows to Indonesia," Agriculture analyst Bustanul Arifin said on Friday in response to reports that Australia has threatened to stop its slaughter cattle exports to Indonesia.          He said that with meat exports Australia would be able to gain more profit than the one it could reap if it sold slaughter cows to Indonesia.  According to ABC news on Tuesday, Indonesia is Australia's key market for live cattle exports, taking 60 per cent of all cattle, and in 2010, the trade was worth more than $300 million.          Since the trade began 20 years ago, more than 6.5 million cattle have been shipped to Indonesia for slaughter. The Australian livestock export industry and the Australian Government have invested more than $4 million into improving animal welfare in Indonesia over the past 10 years.          However, reports have it this week that Australia had threatened to stop shipping cows to abattoirs in Indonesia after a document revealed that abattoirs had committed cruelty against the animals sent there for slaughter.          The footage aired on ABC1's Four Corners early this week showed the animals were kicked, thrashed and beaten, their throats were hacked at, eyes gouged and tails were broken.          Australia's export agency LiveCorp has taken the decision to stop exporting cattle to Indonesia after it was given footage of animal cruelty by animal rights campaigners.          LiveCorp CEO Cameron Hall said cruelty to Australian animals was simply unacceptable and the industry won't tolerate it. He described the footage as graphic and distressing, and frustrating for the industry.          The move came ahead of an investigative feature, which included the film from Indonesia, on the ABC's Four Corners on Monday night.           Nswpolicecrime.com online media quoted the analysis on the footage by Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) chief scientist Bidda Jones that some animals showed signs of consciousness when they were dismembered.          In March this year, animal welfare campaigners 'Animals Australia' filmed in 11 randomly chosen abattoirs in Indonesia and provided the footage to Four Corners. More than a month later, a Four Corners team went to Indonesia and filmed in abattoirs where cattle suffered prolonged and painful deaths.          However, Bustanul Arifin who is also a professor at the Lampung State University said the Australian decision to stop live cattle exports because of cruelty reason to the animals had trade motivation to boost Australia's meat trade to Indonesia.          Besides having higher added value if exported in the form of meat, the Indonesian government could also face difficulties to control the edibility of the meat if the live stocks are slaughtered there.          "After all, Indonesia is now launching a self-sufficiency program to increase its production at home in 2014," he said.          In 2011, the agriculture ministry has allocation for the importation of 50,000 tons of meat, far below that in 2010 which was 120,000 tons. Indonesia imports meat from Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada.          In the mealtime, Agriculture Minister Suswono said Indonesia was planning to reduced its cattle imports to only 10 percent of its need by 2014. "Indonesia has set itself a target to import only 10 percent in 2014. Based on the international standard, Indonesia would already be self-sufficient if it is able to reduce its imports to only 10 percent," he said.          Regardless of this, he said, Australia, which exported some 600,000 head of cows annually to Indonesia, still needed the Indonesian market for its cattle  and to this effect both nations ahead must nurture better cooperation.          "We believed that Australia still needs the Indonesian market because Indonesia so far has been a destination country for cattle exports," he said. Indonesia imports meat from Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada.          The minister said it was Australia's rights to judge whether or not there was cruelty to slaughter cows at Indonesian abattoirs and whether or not it would stop its exports to the country.       After all, Indonesia is now trying to reduce its cattle imports through developing its cattle project and to increase the population of its cattle at home.          "We are not concerned with the threat of Australia to stop its cow exports to Indonesia because we can import the cattle from other countries. After all, we hope that the result of the census would guarantee our steps in increasing the local cattle population," the minister said.          The Indonesian government is launching an inventory on the population of its cows and buffaloes to know the volumes of its need for imported meat in the future.       "We hope that with the cow population census, we will obtain valid picture and data. So far we have data showing that the population of cattle in Indonesia reached 12.6 million," he said.***5*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/19:10/a014) (T.A014/A/A014/A/A014) 04-06-2011 19:11: