By JACINTA CUMMINS
AUSTRALIANS largely relied on imported genetics to establish the Simmental breed in the country with early breeders noting that the first few generations of domestically bred Simmental bulls offered for sale commanded extraordinary prices driven by high market demand and limited supply.
Five decades on, more producers are already or are considering importing genetics as a cost-efficient way to improve their stock and export their own genetics to diversify their business model.
Debbie Mills has worked for Holbrook Breeders Australia for 29 years across most areas of the business and she has managed its import and export side since 2010.
She’s noticed an increase in Simmental clients who are looking for American and Canadian semen as this style of animal has changed in recent years.
While the internet has enabled direct buying and selling on breeder-to-breeder platforms which compete with more established industry importers and exporters, Debbie’s advice to anyone considering importing or exporting is to approach the process the same way as buying or selling a physical animal – doing your research and planning pays off.
“I’ve had clients buy online where the website says it can be exported, but often it’s not country specific and they’ve found the product can’t come into Australia,” she said.
“Doing your homework before you click ‘Add to cart’ can save you a lot of time and money.
Semen and embryo imports are classified as Category Four (Non-standard goods) under the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’s (DAFF) Biosecurity Import Conditions system (BICON).
Importers can apply for permits online through BICON with applications having an approximate turnaround time of 20 working days (four weeks) providing all information is accurate and doesn’t require follow up from the assessing branch.
Alternatively you can buy or sell through a bricks and mortar company which usually guarantees customers and vendors are dealing with genetics which comply with Australia’s import and export protocols and the company will facilitate the documentation process.
While this can be more time efficient, it can limit the range of products due to commercial agreements between suppliers, vendors and companies.
If you are wanting to buy or sell yourself, but don’t want to arrange documentation and logistics, you can engage a third-party provider such as Holbrook Breeders to do this.
Third parties merely facilitate the logistics of importing or exporting once customers have negotiated an agreement with the vendor/buyer.
“When people come to us, they’ve organised what genetics they want and where it needs to come from or go to and I simply oversee the logistics, I have no input in what they use,” Debbie said.
“Whether you are importing yourself or going through another party, the key is allowing enough time from when you place an order to when you want to use the material.
“Factor in time for documentation and permits, collection and transport and try to allow a buffer for any delays if possible.
“Since Covid, there can be a bigger wait for product to be cleared by customs when it lands in Australia.”
Debbie recommends starting the process for importing six to eight weeks ahead of when it needs to arrive in Australia.
“It’s important to provide as much accurate information as you can when applying for permits whether you are applying yourself or someone else is doing it for you,” she said.
If you are going through a third party, it’s worth speaking to them or looking at their forms before purchasing/selling to see what information they will need to apply on your behalf.
“Having good communication with the person you are buying from or selling to can really expedite your application process as it reduces going back and forth,” Debbie said.
“It’s also important not to rely on previous experiences; even if you’ve bought or sold to a destination in the past, or someone you know has, rules can change or localised health issues can affect things.”
This happened in April when New Zealand implemented a new protocol and testing requirements which effectively cut the Australian export market of semen and embryos into the country.
The market resumed in mid October for semen, but DAFF and industry are in talks with their New Zealand counterparts to reopen the embryo market as there is still work to be done in relation to the their collection and export.
Even if rules or legislation haven’t changed, the way protocols are interpreted and applied can change.
Australia changed its interpreted of import conditions for in vivo embryos unexpectedly in 2020 meaning materials which had previously been imported from Canada suddenly weren’t allowed in the country.
This halted trade for two to three months until all the trading players came to an agreement on the difference in each country’s terminology.
Debbie sits on the Ruminant Genetics Trade Advisory Group (RTAG) which has representatives from repro collection centres, such as Total Livestock Genetics, Rocky Repro and GRS for the bovine covering bovines, ovines and caprines (Caprines come from the subfamily Caprinae and include goats and sheep).
RTAG works closely with Biosecurity Australia and DAFF to negotiate and develop the health conditions and protocols between Australian and its trading partners.
It doesn’t matter how you arrange to get your genetics imported into or exported out of Australia, whoever is collecting, handling, transporting and storing them needs to be well trained to ensure the integrity and potency is maintained.
“Holbrook Breeders will collect and store genetics for clients and stored correctly they can last for decades, but if handled incorrectly the quality will be affected,” Debbie said.
Buyers need to be aware that Australian import protocols and audits only consider the health status of the beast the material has come from and ensure it complies with regulations; they don’t assess the actual product itself.
Some providers test onsite then have independent testing done to ensure clients are getting what they paid for and that the product hasn’t been damaged in transit or storage.
If this service is not offered, a client can always choose to get testing done themselves to know the product will deliver a result to avoid a poor AI success rate.
“At the end of the day, you want to be confident that what you’re buying is actually allowed into Australia, it is what is it has been advertised as and that the people who are collecting, transporting and storing it know what they’re doing,” Debbie said.
“Like so much else in our industry, preparation can really stop a lot of issues cropping up.”