O'Connor DamienANIMAL WELFARE AMENDMENT BILLThird ReadingHon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Minister of Agriculture): I present a legislative statement on the Animal Welfare Amendment Bill.DEPUTY SPEAKER: That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: I move That the Animal Welfare Amendment Bill be now read a third time.I'd like to reiterate firstly at the start of this third reading my thanks to the Primary Production Committee for their examination of this bill during the select committee stage and all submitters for their time and contribution to the Animal Welfare Amendment Bill. I move that the bill be now read a third time. It amends the Animal Welfare Act 1999 to ban the export of livestock by sea and shows our Government's commitment to upholding New Zealand's reputation for high standards in animal welfare.It's vital that we stay ahead of the curve in a world where animal welfare is under more and more scrutiny. Both National and ACT have expressed different views in which they believe that a focus should be made on regulatory improvement. However we already have a world-leading regulatory system for the export of livestock and no improvement would have been enough to protect the welfare of these animals and to protect New Zealand's reputation. There's plenty of evidence as seen at the select committee to prove that.The Government started a review of the livestock export trade in 2019 in response to concerns that the trade could be a risk to our reputation. The objective of the review was to provide New Zealanders an opportunity to reflect on how we can improve the welfare of livestock being exported. The review consulted on several options including both regulatory improvement and a complete ban on the trade. The Cabinet paper and decisions around the future of livestock exports was delayed due to the Government's response to COVID-19. During this time we were faced with the tragic sinking of Gulf Livestock 1 in September 2020. This was the seventh livestock ship to have been sunk since 2009 globally. Beyond the devastating loss of life—and I'd like to acknowledge the families of all those people who lost their lives—I want to acknowledge the fact that the sinking highlighted the concerns and the risks the trade posed to animal welfare.Rather than initiate the decision to ban the trade the sinking highlighted the concerns and the risks the trade poses to animal welfare. Since the Gulf Livestock 1 sank an eighth livestock vessel the Al Badri 1 has also sunk this time off the coast of Sudan. This sinking resulted in the death of over 15000 sheep. The regular occurrence of such tragedies has the potential to inflict lasting damage to New Zealand's reputation in trade no matter how high we set animal welfare standards for the voyages and everyone's best efforts. The regulatory impact statement from the Ministry for Primary Industries acknowledges that risks associated with this trade are real and that there are limitations to our control over animals' welfare once they are loaded on the boat and leave this country.On 14 April 2021 I announced the Government's decision to ban the export of cattle deer goats and sheep by ship with a transition period of up to two years. In announcing the proposed ban of livestock exports by sea Cabinet considered several factors when making their decision including animal welfare performance trade reputational impacts and economic opportunities and risks. Decisions like this involve a number of technical aspects as well as values-based judgments. At the heart of our decision is upholding New Zealand's reputation for high standards of animal welfare.I continue to acknowledge the economic benefit some get from the trade but support for it is not universal. There are different opinions on its long-term value among farmers how it affects New Zealand's commitment to animal welfare and our image in the eyes of international consumers. I acknowledge that those involved in the trade have made improvements over recent years but the long voyage times and the journey through the tropics to the Northern Hemisphere which is often the case for these markets will always impose animal welfare challenges. Despite the best efforts of industry and the Ministry for Primary Industries as well as any regulatory measures that we could put in place as long as the trade continues the risk to animal welfare and our reputation will remain. We've also seen an increase in consumer focus on perceptions of animal welfare in a number of markets such as the United States the EU and the UK. With these market-led insights in mind recurrent negative animal welfare incidents and reports could inflict lasting damage on New Zealand's reputation.I acknowledge that demand for livestock exports by sea has increased over recent years; however they still only amount to approximately 0.2 percent of our primary sector export revenues since 2015. The Government has set a two-year transition period for the trade which will end on 30 April 2023. This allows stakeholders and our trading partners time to adopt alternative options and to give those farmers and others involved in the trade enough time to change their business models. We recognise the importance that our relationships with our international partners have and have discussed the decision to ban livestock exports by sea with them. They are aware of why we've come to this decision and I'm informed that most of the other affected parties—exporters farmers trading partners and importers—are aware of the ban and understand the intent of the transition period.During the transition period we are continuing with improvements being made to the trade. Following the loss of Gulf Livestock 1 and the independent Heron review a series of recommendations were implemented immediately and longer-term improvements have been made and will continue to be implemented as part of the livestock exports continuous improvement work programme.New Zealand needs to stay at the forefront to maintain its reputation as an exporter with high standards of animal welfare. Our commitment to these high standards has already shown its value when animal welfare discussions have been brought up in successfully concluded free-trade agreement negotiations with both the United Kingdom and with the European Union. Making this change to the Animal Welfare Act 1999 will prohibit the live export of cattle deer goats and sheep by ship from 30 April 2023 reinforcing and building on New Zealand's reputation as a safe ethical producer of high-quality products.I'd just like in conclusion to say that this is a significant step forward for New Zealand. We are seeing around the globe other countries considering the same ban. We are at the bottom of the Pacific where travel times are longer than for most from pretty much every other country perhaps other than Chile—again where a bill has been talked about to ban exports. We are keeping ahead of the curve. The reputation that we have for the finest quality food and fibre nutrition into the world markets generated by our forebears must be maintained by us into the future. And in a world where consumers and supermarkets and everyone are looking at animal welfare standards and animal protein we have to ensure that we produce the best for the best with the best systems and the best values.New Zealand can indeed aspire to be and deliver on being the best country for the world supported by the best farmers in the world with the best systems in the world. I therefore on that note commend the bill to the House.DEPUTY SPEAKER: The question is that the motion be agreed to.