RIYADH, 23 June 2005 — Australia will send the first shipment of 100,000 sheep and 3,000 cattle to Saudi Arabia early next month.
The ship and livestock trade between the two countries will begin again on July 1 this year. It was suspended in August 2003 when Saudi Arabia refused to accept about 50,000 Australian sheep that were allegedly diseased.
“The Kingdom will receive the first shipment in mid-August,” said Peter O’Byrne, managing director of Sydney-based Australian Trade Commission.
O’Byrne, who addressed a press conference on Tuesday, is currently visiting the Kingdom.
At the press conference, O’Byrne said about 100 Australian companies had a direct or indirect presence in the Saudi market.
Bilateral trade between Riyadh and Canberra exceeds SR2 billion annually. Saudi Arabia is an important exporter of oil and petrochemical products to Australia whereas Australia exports such motor vehicles as Camry and Lumina to the Kingdom.
Asked about measures to ensure that there will be no repetition of the 2003 incident when nearly 50,000 sheep were stranded at sea for three months, the official said: “The recent agreement signed by the Kingdom and Australia contains guidelines and provisions for livestock trade.”
He said: “The animals will be held in a quarantine facility in Jeddah if there is a dispute over the their quality or health.”
Australia is the world’s largest meat and livestock exporter. Live cattle exports account for 10 percent of Australia’s cattle production. Australia’s sheep trade with Saudi Arabia was in the region of SR470 million annually.
Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, is a major importer of live sheep and cattle from different countries. The Kingdom consumes some 10 million head of livestock annually of which 80 percent are imported.
