RI, AUSTRALIA CATTLE ISSUE CANNOT BE TAKEN TO WTO

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, June 15 (ANTARA) - The Australian move to suspend its live cattle exports to Indonesia over alleged cruelty against the animal in the latter's  abattoirs could be solved by both countries in  bilateral talks as the World Trade Organization (WTO) cannot  interfere in the matter.          "The WTO cannot influence the decision of a country in restricting its exports to another country. If Indonesia and Australia have a problem over the matter, they should resort to  consultations and discuss it bilaterally," WTO Director General Pascal Lamy said here on Tuesday.          In this case, WTO could not meddle in the suspension of livestock exports imposed by Australia on the grounds that Indonesia had violated  animal welfare principles.          It would help settle a problem only if one of the parties felt it was disadvantaged and applied to the WTO Dispute Settlement Body for its settlement.          "If one party feels its interest has been harmed by unfair treatment, it can use the WTO dispute settlement system," the WTO director general said.          However, an international law observer, Himahanto Juwana said Australia's step to suspend its live cattle exports to Indonesia on ground of violation of animal welfare has the potential to breach the agreement between the Republic of Indonesia and Australia on the Framework for Security Cooperation or popularly known as the Lombok Treaty.          Article 2, clause 2 of the Lombok Treaty stipulates that Australia and Indonesia must mutually respect and support each other's territorial integrity, sovereignty, national unity, political independence and non-interference of domestic affairs.          "In this context, the slaughter of cattle is a domestic affair of Indonesia. If the way the cattle is slaughtered in Indonesia is viewed by Australia as against animal welfare, Australia could tell Indonesia in a way not categorized as an interference in Indonesia's domestic affairs," he said.          The suspension of the cattle exports constituted a coercive step taken by Australia against Indonesia which is not in line with the non-interference and mutual respect principles, he said.          Yet, according to Pascal Lamy, trade restriction can be imposed by a certain country to protect its population and security from health and security disturbance.          The same voice was also expressed by Indonesia's External Trade director general Gusmardi Bustami. He said that in procedural terms, the Australian step to halt the exports of its cattle breeding stock to Indonesia was not prohibited.          "Article 20, clause 20 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), does not regulate it, yet it could be construed that someone could take animal welfare as a reason," he said.          The article said that trade restriction could be imposed for public interest, health and state security reasons, yet it could not be applied indiscriminately.          Last week, the Australian government decided to suspend its young cattle to Indonesia for six months because it viewed that a number of Indonesian slaughterhouses did not abide by the animal welfare standards.          A footage aired on ABC1's Four Corners recently showed the animals were kicked, thrashed and beaten, their throats were hacked at, eyes gouged and tails were broken. Yet some quarters in Indonesia considered the allegation as a trick to boost Australian meat exports to Indonesia.          In order to solve the problem, Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said that the government was taking the needed settlement steps. She said that Indonesia already had a national action plan to improve the capacity of its abattoirs.          "We have also coordinated with Australia to take stock of slaughterhouses considered to have not yet met the required standards. What have been shown in the video are only a small number. We want to provide guidance for them (slaughterhouses)," the minister said.          In the meantime, Deputy Agriculture Minister Bayu Krisnamurthi said Indonesia and Australia had agreed to formulate animal welfare standards for cattle slaughtering.  The agreement was the result of a meeting between Indonesian Agriculture Minister Suswono and the Australian agricultural attache in Jakarta on Tuesday.         "We will formulate again the slaughter standards. We will probably finish formulating it in the coming two to three weeks," Bayu said.          Virtually, Indonesian abattoirs already have cattle slaughter standards but Australia is not yet satisfied with it while Australia itself is yet to have those standards. Actually, Indonesia and Australia could use the international animal health organization (OIE) standards. But the OIE standards are still general in nature.          Therefore, the rules applied so far by Australia have not yet been recognized by the OIE and WTO.          "The formulation of standards is important as the rules applied in Australia have not yet been recognized by the OIE and the WTO," Agriculture Miniser Suswono said. Indonesia also has animal welfare standards which are spelled out in Agriculture Minister's Regulation Number 13 of 2010 on conditions for slaughterhouses and meat handling units.          At the meeting in the minister's office the two officials agreed the policy of cow imports would be determined only after an investigation was conducted into the torture allegations.          "But before a field inspection is done the animal welfare standards have to be made first" Suswono said.***5*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/15:10/f001) 15-06-2011 15:08:2