Kuwait is ready to halt the livestock imports from Australia
Last year, Australia exports of live sheep reached 1.8 of which 1.28 million were delivered to Al Mawashi/Kuwait Livestock and Trading Company.
Now, the biggest buyer of Australian live sheep is at the point where it wants to halt the livestock imports due to a scandal regarding the death of thousands of animals during the transportation.
A suggestion to stop the trade and replace the live animals with chilled meat is not a viable solution, said Osama Boodai, Al Mawashi CEO. "One can not replace the other", he declared in an interview for Sheep Central magazine, mentioning the fact that Saudi Arabia halted the imports from Australia since 2012 and replace it with livestock imports from Africa.
Boodai recognized the fact that cruel condition of transportation is unacceptable but he also said that Kuwait is forced to take additional measure to secure the food demanded by the locals.
"We want to continue, but our food security needs and the doubts about Australian sheep exports means Al Mawashi is already looking to find other secure sources of livestock", mentioned the head of the company.
One of the first measures taken by Kuwait was to build its own flocks even if the country's agricultural resources are scarce. "For the countries in the Gulf, the livestock trade is a matter of national food security. We have started to build our own flock and hope to increase its capacity. however, there are real limitations to our production potential and ability to ever be self-sufficient", admitted Osama Boodai.
(Photo source: Subsea World News)
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