Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
The National Party's proposal for a "gold standard" of live export shipping is an acknowledgment that current practice is unacceptable, Veterinarians for Animal Welfare Aotearoa say.
On Wednesday, the National Party said if elected, it would restart live exports of cattle with greater regulation to protect animal welfare and safety, such as purpose-built ships, and a certification regime for importers.
A ban on the practice of live exports has come into force this week.
Veterinarians for Animal Welfare Aotearoa managing director Helen Beattie says there would need to be independent oversight to protect the welfare of animals on long journeys.
"At the moment, the vast majority of boats are not purpose-built so they have no effluent system, there's no way to manage the temperature and humidity to go across the equator, the space allowances are really not large enough," Beattie told Morning Report.
She said she was concerned the feed and water system was manual, so when a crew was locked down in their cabins during a typhoon, the animals could not be fed during that time.
The boat itself was not the only issue, she said.
"It's pretty clear that the way it has been done is unacceptable, the question remains about whether or not National's proposal is actually feasible."
The ship leaving this week was practically operating at a gold-standard level but was not regulated, Livestock Export NZ chief executive Mark Willis told Morning Report.
"The current government obviously chose to ban the industry as opposed to improve regulation."
The animals travelling this week on the last shipment before the ban would be in a high tech environment, he said.
The ship has a ventilation system rather than air conditioning and the temperature was no greater than it was outside, he said.
The cattle could lie down and were under 24 hour vet care, he said.
"We're not seeing any significant veterinary concern around either heat stress or any large scale events that are injurious to the animal."
The farms the animals went to in China were operating under international standards, he said.
"They're high value assets when they arrive and these are professional organisations that care for them well."
Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor said while ship leaving this week meets the current standard, the standard only "provides 1.6 square metres for a 400kg animal".
The animals could only just lie down, he said.
"If we're to be at the forefront of the finest animal protein product in the world, we have to make sure we're not exposed to animal welfare standards that are not the best."
He said the National Party's proposals for the agriculture sector would be a "backward step".
