Article Updated 7 March 2024

After the 2023 election, the new Government – a coalition of the National, New Zealand First and Act –  announced it planned to destroy the world-leading ban on live export by sea. This would cause animals to be forced, once again into harrowing journeys to countries with little to no laws protecting animal welfare. 

Now a petition has been launched by John Hellström, Order of New Zealand Merit, who has previously been an advisor to the Government on animal welfare. This petition is supported by animal organisations across New Zealand including Animals Aotearoa, Ban Live Exports NZ, HUHA, SAFE, SPCA, Veterinarians for Animal Welfare Aotearoa and World Animal Protection.

The world celebrated when the Labour Government announced back in 2021 that live exports by sea would be banned (with the ban coming into effect two years later in April 2023). Although this was a great victory for those of us who’ve campaigned for years to end this cruel trade, it also felt bittersweet when so many animals were exempt from the ban.

Then we learned that two political parties, National and Act, were pledging to bring this trade back if they got into power. The new coalition Government will feature New Zealand First, who was previously opposed to live export, together with National and Act who said they will repeal the ban if they can find a way to protect animal welfare and safety (which seems unlikely on the aptly nick named “death ships”). The results of this pre-election promise remain to be seen. 

New Zealand is, of course, a nation of animal lovers, and most of us oppose cruelty to animals. While many of our farming practices here leave much to be desired, 99% of our live animal export is to countries with lower animal welfare standards than ours. These animals are exposed to undeniable risks, be they on ships or planes. It is therefore time New Zealand banned all live export for good. 

Does New Zealand still export live animals?

While live animal exports in NZ have been banned for cows, sheep, deer and goats by ship, the live export of animals by air continues to be legal. 

The majority of these exports are chickens and fishes*. In fact, chickens alone equate to over 90% of the farmed land animals exported. The total number of fishes exported is completely unknown given that exporters are exempt from needing to apply for an Animal Welfare Export Certificate and what little data is available, measures fishes in tonnes.

New Zealand also exports bees, a small number of companion animals and even some exotic and zoo animals.

While a ship full of cows might be the first image your mind conjures (and what AI designs when you ask it to draw live export), the vast majority of New Zealand live export continues, with millions of animals leaving our country by plane. 

Although not as widely reported as export by sea, there have previously been scandals involving animals transported by plane. When New Zealand exported 900 pregnant ewes to Saudi Arabia in 2014, 75% of the lambs died shortly after arrival.

Little is known about the live export of other animals. Any exporter of day old chicks is only required to report mortality if over 5% of the babies die. That means up to 150,000 chicks could die on planes every year and we’d never know. 

The live export ban

The road to New Zealand banning live export by sea is a long and tragic one, that was achieved by the hard work of animal advocates and public outrage after various disasters.

A key disaster that highlighted the risk of live export to a country’s reputation was an Australian voyage in 2003. The ship left with 58,000 sheep intended for Saudi Arabia. However, Saudi Arabia rejected the ship on arrival as they alleged disease was evident in the sheep. A mechanical breakdown then led to a fire on the ship. After 79 days on board the ship, the sheep were unloaded in Eritrea and by then, 6,000 were dead. New Zealand recognised the reputation risk posed by a similar disaster happening here, and suspended the export of live sheep for slaughter following the incident.

In 2007, following a Governmental Review of New Zealand’s live export policies, they announced an Order that would prohibit the export of livestock for slaughter unless the risk to New Zealand’s reputation could be “managed.”

Despite countless experts arguing that the live export of animals was inhumane, New Zealand continued with exports by sea but limited to only animals for “breeding”. Thousands of cows were exported every year with a small number of deaths recorded on each shipment. Of course, we know that just because an animal didn’t die on board, it doesn’t mean they didn’t suffer.

Cows may also have been mistreated on arrival, especially since the countries we were exporting to have much lower legal protections for farmed animals. 

In 2019, the ABC exposed a live export deal gone wrong that led to cows from New Zealand and Australia, (as well as humans) suffering in Sri Lanka.

This led to yet another Government review. During the lengthy review, a live export ship (Gulf Livestock 1) leaving from New Zealand, sank. 14 people and 5,000 cows lost their lives. That spurred another review which eventually led to all live exports by sea being banned. 

The live export ban came into effect in April 2023, two years after it was first announced in 2021. This ban saw an end to the aptly named death ships coming to our shores and taking our animals away. 

What are live animal exports?

Live animal export is the phrase used for any live animals exported for commercial reasons; basically when we send animals born or hatched in Aotearoa in a plane or a ship to another country. 

In order to export animals, exporters are required to obtain an Animal Welfare Export Certificate from the Ministry for Primary Industries (often called an MPI Export Certificate). This process is supposed to minimise risk, but as we have seen from the numerous disasters and mortality events over the years, a Certificate doesn’t guarantee the safety of the animals. Also, fishes are exempt from this process meaning they are exported without even these minimal animal welfare requirements. 

National and live export

The National party has said they want to bring back live export by sea. In reality, this would involve changing the law, something they say they don’t want to do unless they can find a way to ensure animal welfare on board is secure. It remains to be seen if they think this is possible and how the new Government will proceed.

No doubt there will be a lot of pushback from animal advocates across the country and the opposition MPs. 

Who are the major exporters of chickens?

Most of the chickens exported are actually birds who are destined for breeding farms. These chickens are put into boxes as soon as they hatch and then flown thousands of miles. The names of exporters are redacted on any government documentation, so we don’t know which companies are sending chickens. It is likely that Tegel exports a large number of the chicks as they also incubate and hatch the majority of chicks that are farmed in New Zealand.

The future of live export

One thing we know for sure is that Kiwis care about animal welfare. We know that people all across the country will continue to advocate for the end of live animal export in Aotearoa.

*The term ‘fishes’ rather than ‘fish’ is increasingly being adopted by the animal advocacy movement to recognise and emphasise the individuality of the intelligent, feeling individuals we are describing. (The fish-farming industry only measures fishes in tonnes, rather than numbers of individuals.)