JEDDAH, 19 September 2003 — Saudi Arabia has denied it is negotiating a new protocol for the unloading of Australian sheep at Saudi ports to avoid future rejection of entire shipments of animals.

The Kingdom last month rejected a shipload of live Australian sheep on the grounds that the animals were infected with scabby mouth disease.

The denial came from Minister of Agriculture Dr. Fahd Balghanaim, who said there were no plans to sign a new protocol with Australia on the unloading of shipments of Australian sheep contracted through Saudi firms.

“The channels for discussion between the Kingdom and Australia regarding the shipments of sheep are always open. We are in constant contact with Australian officials either through their embassy in the Kingdom or through the council of sheep producers in Bahrain. The purpose of such discussions is to solve any problems that may arise like the recent shipment,” Al-Madinah quoted the minister as saying.

He said he expected the two sides to arrive at an understanding that could better define the procedure adopted by both countries.

The $5 million shipload of 57,000 live sheep was refused entry into the Kingdom after Saudi officials rejected them for health reasons. Veterinary tests, conducted when the sheep arrived off Jeddah in August, found an infection rate of six percent. But the Australians say only 0.35 percent of the sheep were infected with scabby mouth disease, a viral disease that causes cold sore-like scabs on the sheep’s mouth and can cause lesions on the arms of humans who handle infected animals. The disease had previously resulted in imports of live Australian sheep being banned in Saudi Arabia from 1991 to 2000.

Australia has now offered to deliver the animals to Pakistan free of charge.

The minister said the Kingdom had not singled out Australian sheep shipments for special treatment and that the conditions applied were the same governing livestock shipments from other countries.

The minister was replying to reports that Australia was working to sign a protocol with the Kingdom that would call for the unloading at Saudi ports of all the sheep sent to the Kingdom under agreements with Saudi companies, a move designed to prevent future rejection of shipments.

Last year Saudi Arabia imported 1.8 million heads of Australian sheep worth 195 million Australian dollars.