CANBERRA: The Australian government’s decision to suspend cow exports to some slaughterhouses in Vietnam after reports about inhumane slaughter of cows surfaced could cause a slight crisis in the beef market, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). Slaughterhouse that have modern equipment and comply with ECAS (exporter supply chain assurance system) could suffer.
The Australian government suspended exports after ABC News published images showing that Australian cows were killed with sledgehammers in some abattoirs in Vietnam. According to the ABC News, only two out of 13 slaughterhouses surveyed in the northern and central regions of Vietnam met required slaughtering procedures. Nguyen Xuan Duong, deputy head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Animal Husbandry Agency, said the Australian government’s move would have a big impact on Vietnamese enterprises in the field.
In the past, Vietnam imported cows from different sources, including Thailand. However, since the day it began importing Australian cows, the imports from Thailand have decreased. Duong said the suspension was bad news for Vietnamese enterprises which strictly follow requirements set by Australian agencies.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Luong Thanh Nghi said the move still had not heavily affected the import/export of the two countries. However, he warned that if the problem recurs, the ban will cause huge losses to many slaughterhouses, to Vietnamese consumers and Australian farmers as well, since Vietnam is the second largest cow export market for Australia.
Nghi said Vietnamese agencies are joining forces with Australian agencies to investigate the slaughterhouses which were found violating the regulations and examine the slaughter process followed by other houses. Dang Thi Phuong Ninh, deputy general director of Vissan, the nation’s leading food and meat supplier, said after watching the video clip on ABC, that the procedure should not occur at its slaughterhouses. Ninh said most beef products supplied by Vissan are from Australian cows, and the company has always strictly followed ESCAS.
The strict procedures which require heavy investment is the reason why many other Vietnamese enterprises have not imported Australian cows, though they have wanted to jump into the business field. According to Vissan, Vietnam needs 3,000 cows a day, including 600 cows for HCM City alone. Vissan has been importing cows for slaughtering domestically since September 2013 to satisfy domestic demand. The company sells 50 Australian cows a day on average. However, Ninh said to date Vissan still has been importing cows from Australia through an import/export company.
