CANBERRA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Agriculture Minister David Littleproud announced on Thursday he would introduce fines of up to 3.5 million U.S. dollars for companies and penalties of up to 10 years' jail for company directors who breached animal welfare laws following a review into the live sheep export trade.
Littleproud said he had accepted all 23 recommendations of veterinarian Michael McCarthy's review of the export trade, which was announced last month after shocking footage emerged from a ship travelling from Fremantle to the Middle East with about 2,400 sheep dead of heat stress.
However, the government will not go as far as banning live sheep exports, even during the high-risk Middle Eastern summer, a move which many critics had been calling for.
"Today is about setting a new course for the live export industry," Littleproud told reporters on Thursday.
"There is still a lot more to be done and I give you a commitment to lead that journey."
When parliament returns next week, the minister will introduce a bill to amend the Australian Meat Industry Act which will result in severe fines and jail terms for companies and directors who break export rules including around stocking densities and animal welfare practices.
"Under this offence a company would face a fine of 4.2 million Australian dollars (about 3.2 million U.S. dollars), three times the benefit gained by the company, or 10 percent of the company's annual turnover," Littleproud said.
"A company director found guilty could face 10 years prison or a fine of 2.1 million Australian dollars. An individual convicted under the same offence, would face 10 years and a fine of 420,000 Australian dollars."
Littleproud said exporters would be required to comply with a new stocking density model, which would involve an increase in space for sheep of up to 39 percent, resulting in a stocking reduction of up to 28 percent.
He said the greatest cause of sheep mortality was heat stress and McCarthy's new heat-stress model would potentially reduce "stocking density" of between 19 and 79 percent.
While the announcement was welcomed by some, Labor's agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon said the government's response did not go far enough.
He said the Labor Party would stop the live export trade in summer "at the first opportunity".
Fitzgibbon accused the Turnbull government of failing to "follow the science" on live sheep exports. "The science is in, the northern summer sheep trade and animal welfare expectations cannot be reconciled," Fitzgibbon said.
"As the Australian Veterinary Association and the RSPCA have told us, no matter what standards or stocking densities are applied, sheep will continue to suffer in the searing heat on these long summer voyages."
National Farmers' Federation President Fiona Simson said the farming community welcomed Dr McCarthy's approach to amending stocking densities.
"The McCarthy review to us was the very first step along a path to which we can see continual improvement," she said on Thursday.
"For Australian farmers, animal welfare is our highest concern. It is absolutely critical that we can have faith in the systems by which we send our sheep to overseas countries."
