Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources David Littleproud

The company at the centre of a horrific live exports scandal involving the deaths of thousands of sheep at sea has had its licence to export animals permanently cancelled.

The Department of Agriculture announced the decision to cancel Emanuel Exports' licence late on Tuesday night saying it was for the protection of Australia's animal welfare standards.

Emanuel Exports was, until recently, run by Graham Daws and his son Nicholas. Graham Daws stepped aside as director after footage filmed on the Emanuel-operated Awassi Express live export ship showed thousands of sheep effectively "cooking" to their deaths in searing temperatures.

The Daws have three licences to export sheep and have tried to use two of them to export nearly 60,000 sheep to Kuwait. But they were forced to abandon their export when hit with a suspension of two licences over issues relating to past voyages, newly uncovered after the Awassi Express scandal.