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Francezka Nangoy & Antara
An Australian ban on sending cattle to feedlots in Indonesia would result in the archipelago exhausting its reserves of livestock, an industry association chief warned on Sunday.
“Local cattle will be depleted,” Joni Liano, executive director of the Indonesian Meat Producers and Feedlot Association (Apfindo), said on Sunday. Abattoirs will be forced to slaughter cattle before they could reach the ideal weight of 450 kilograms, he said.
Agriculture Minister Suswono tried on Friday to play down reports that Australia would stop shipping cattle to Indonesia following public outrage in Australia over the treatment of animals in slaughterhouses.
“We are not concerned with the threat of Australia to stop its cow exports to Indonesia because we can import the cattle from other countries,” Suswono told state news agency Antara.
Four Corners, a television news program on Australian state broadcaster ABC, showed footage last week of animals that were kicked and beaten, their eyes gouged, tails broken and throats hacked at with dull knives. The footage sparked outrage in Australia and demands to halt livestock exports to Indonesia.
Meat producers have expressed concern that beef prices in Indonesia would soars should Australia halt its shipments. Twelve Indonesian abattoirs have been banned from slaughtering Australian cattle due to alleged violations of animal welfare.
Despite the outcry, Suswono said he was not worried.
“We believe Australia still needs the Indonesian market because Indonesia has been a destination country for cattle exports,” he said.
It was Australia’s right to judge whether there was cruelty committed against cows at Indonesian abattoirs and whether it would stop its exports here, the minister said. He added that he supported the Australian government’s desire to provide assistance to Indonesia’s abattoir revitalization program.
Media reports have emerged that Australia does not plan to stop livestock exports to Indonesia other than the 12 blacklisted abbatoirs, who will receive extra instruction from the Agriculture Ministry, Apfindo, the Indonesian Council of Ulema and Meat & Livestock Australia.
News portal Detik.com quoted Agriculture Ministry livestock department chief Prabowo Respatiyo Caturroso as saying the exports would continue. An ABC report on Sunday said 7,000 live head of cattle left Wyndham, Western Australia, for Indonesia after receiving guarantees from importers that the cattle would not go to the banned abbatoirs.
In a bid to achieve self-sufficiency in beef, the government has set a goal of reducing cattle imports to 10 percent of total demand and increasing the local cattle population, which stands at 12.6 million. Last year, local cattle met just 57 percent of demand.
Live cattle imports will account for 23 percent of Indonesia’s demand for 506,000 tons of beef this year, Joni said. Local cattle will contribute 62 percent while the remaining 13 percent will come from other imports.
To fulfill the 62 percent quota this year, Indonesia needs 1.7 million head of cattle, Joni said. If Australia goes through with the ban, he said he doubted Indonesia would be able to satisfy demand on its own.
Indonesian feedlots are used because operational costs are lower than in Australia. Animals are usually fattened for about two months before being slaughtered. Joni said Australian breeders also stood to lose because of the ban as fattening one cow there costs 20 cents more per kilogram than in Indonesia.
Suswono called on meat producers and feedlot operators to prioritize domestically bred cattle.
“I have received a letter from the East Java governor asking for the halt of cow imports because the imported cows caused the prices of locally bred cows to fall,” the minister said.
