WHY DOES EMANUEL EXPORTS STILL HAVE AN EXPORT LICENCE?
Animals Australia has written to the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture seeking answers as to why Emanuel Exports hasn’t had their export licence suspended — given the extensive evidence of non-compliance with regulations on ships, and their track record of regulatory breaches in importing countries.
“The Secretary has the power to suspend an export licence if conditions of that licence have been breached," said Animals Australia’s Lyn White.
“The Department is in possession of evidence confirming comprehensive breaches by this exporter, which on top of a history of non-compliance in importing countries, warrants the strongest possible Departmental response."
Since 2005 the directors of Emanuel Exports and their sister companies have been involved in 37 separate voyages on which over 1,000 animals perished on each shipment. In addition, since 2013, 42 government investigations have found these exporters guilty of non-compliance with regulations in importing countries, resulting in appalling cruelty to thousands of Australian animals.
“The Australian public is still reeling from the egregious suffering they witnessed occurring at sea under Emanuel Exports’ control. To reward them with another export permit, rather than take strong regulatory action is exactly why there is such contempt for the regulator and the law."
A vessel awaiting another Emanuel Exports shipment, the MV Awassi Express, currently sits in port in Fremantle waiting to ship over 50,000 sheep to the Middle East. One of the scheduled destination ports for the vessel is Qatar, despite Qatar’s major abattoir being suspended for breaches of Australia’s live export regulations.
Emanuel Exports has been the major exporter to Qatar and this abattoir is part of their supply chain.
Evidence lodged with the Department of Agriculture this month revealed sheep being beaten with poles, dragged and thrown in the lairage outside the abattoir of Qatari importer, Widam Foods. More than 650,000 Australian sheep have been exported to Qatar in the past 12 months, the majority of which would have been killed in this abattoir.
“If this is the abuse that Australian sheep were being subjected to outside the abattoir, you can only imagine the horrors sheep were enduring inside," said Lyn White.
Australians are collectively shaking their heads as to how Emanuel Exports still has a licence to operate.
“How can a company responsible for such egregious cruelty on board their ships, backed by a history of regulatory breaches in importing countries, be rewarded with another export permit and be entrusted with the care of a further 50,000 sheep?"
“There is not a single other business in Australia that would not have had its licence to operate suspended in similar circumstances."
FOOTAGE FROM QATAR ABATTOIR: https://vimeo.com/264799655
