The European Union could ban live animal exports to countries which don't meet it's animal welfare standards. (File photo)

Animal rights groups are calling on New Zealand to follow the European Union's plans to ban live animal exports to countries which don't meet its animal welfare standards.

Save Animals from Exploitation (Safe) head of campaigns, Marianne Macdonald, said the Government was falling behind on the live export issue.



"Thousands of animals are exported by sea every year to countries whose animal treatment may not meet New Zealand standards. Animals are being sent to far-flung countries, where untold horrors could await them," she said.

A report recommending tougher rules for transporting live animals was approved last week by the EU Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development.

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It will go to a final parliamentary vote next month.

The report, led by Danish representative Jorn Dohrmann, recommended banning live exports to countries with animal welfare standards lower than the EU's.

"The EU has previously made progress on improving animal welfare during transport, however challenges remain," he said.

"One of those is to ensure animals receive the same treatment when they leave the EU as they do within it."

In countries where transport standards didn't measure up or weren't properly enforced and differences couldn't be resolved, the EU should ban transport of live animals, the report said.

SUPPLIED The last major export of live sheep from New Zealand was in 2015, when more than 45,000 ewe hoggets were shipped to Mexico.

​Dohrmann also said the EU's longer-term policy on live animal transports needed to be looked at.

"In other parts of the world such as India, New Zealand and Australia, they are taking measures to limit live exports," he said.

"The EU has always praised itself for being a global front-runner for animal welfare. Developments around the world show that the EU now has to step up its efforts in order to retain that position."

But while Dohrmann pointed to New Zealand as a positive example, animal rights group Safe has in this case called for New Zealand to follow Europe's lead.





MacDonald said all animals exported for breeding purposes "will ultimately be killed in their country of destination, potentially by methods too cruel to be deemed legal in New Zealand".

Under the Animal Welfare Regulations, live animals can't be exported for slaughter without the approval of the director-general of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).

However, export for breeding continues and MPI records show 338,888 live cattle have been exported since 2008.

Of those, 372 animals died during transport, giving an average mortality rate of 0.11 per cent.

Only one large shipment of sheep has been exported since 2008. It was a shipment of 45,112 sheep to Mexico in 2015, with a mortality rate of 0.42 per cent or 191 sheep.

Macdonald said animals transported on live export ships could suffer from extreme exhaustion and dehydration as well as significant stress in rough seas.



"It's time that the Government closes the loophole on live animal export for breeding purposes and bans all exports of live animals," she said.

An MPI spokesman has said exporters were required to meet stringent animal welfare standards prior to, and during, a voyage.

"Our requirements are designed to prioritise the animal's health and welfare during their journey and ensure they are handled in accordance with New Zealand's strict animal welfare standards," he said.

MPI did not have jurisdiction and could not require verification of animal welfare after the animals arrived.

JOHN BISSET/STUFF The Gloucester Express carried 3700 cattle from Timaru to China last year.

However, it was "in the importer's best interests that the prime breeding stock remain in excellent condition so they can make a return on their investment".

Global animal welfare group, World Animal Protection, has also called for an end to live exports, including for breeding purposes, from New Zealand.

Animals exported for breeding, once used, would eventually be slaughtered, campaign adviser Christine Rose said.

"The ban on live animal exports [except] for breeding is inadequate when hundreds of thousands of animals continue to be sent offshore where they are ultimately inhumanely slaughtered," she said.

"Publicly acknowledging systemic animal cruelty in non-NZ countries, yet still shipping our animals off-shore to be held and then slaughtered in unacceptable conditions is abhorrent."

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