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Sri Lanka suspends controversial dairy cow imports from Australia
Sri Lanka has suspended controversial dairy cow imports from Australia and a decision on the future of the project is to be taken next week.
“We have suspended the project and the Rural Economy Ministry’s Steering Committee on this project is scheduled to meet on April 11 (Thursday) to take a decision on how to proceed,” ministry Secretary K.D.S. Ruwanchandra told the Sunday Times last morning.
This was as Wellard Rural Exports Pty Ltd., the agent and transporter of the dairy cows based in Australia, on Thursday issued a strong statement that efforts to resolve the current issue have been ongoing for some time and are continuing.
“Wellard is in negotiations with the Government of Sri Lanka to make changes to the programme to prevent a reoccurrence of these issues for any future shipments. No cattle have been shipped since November 2017 and no more cattle will be shipped until changes to the farm selection criteria have been agreed on,” stated Wellard.
The Sunday Times on February 24 published a full-page detailed investigation on this crisis headlined ‘Milky dreams turn sour’.
Meanwhile, the aggrieved dairy farmers have petitioned the Presidential Commission of Inquiry to Investigate Corruption and Fraud Allegedly Committed in State Institutions and the proceedings are ongoing.
In 2014, a Cabinet memorandum had proposed the importation of 20,000 cows in stages for private farmers to improve the dairy industry, under an agreement between the Sri Lankan and Australian governments. Wellard Rural Exports had been selected to supply the dairy cows.
But with the change of government in 2015, the project had been temporarily suspended. However, in July 2015, it had been resurrected and approved by the new government. In September 2015, fresh loan agreements had been requested from the two international banks – Export Finance Insurance Corporation of Australia and Cooperative RaboBank of the Netherlands.
Thereafter, the then Livestock Development Ministry (currently the Rural Economy Ministry) had decided to implement the project in stages. Under Stage I, 5,000 animals were to be imported and depending on its success the balance 15,000 imports were due to take place under State II.
By December 2016, the loan agreements amounting to US$ 73.95 million had been signed with the two foreign banks, with the ministry placing advertisements calling for “expressions of interest from entrepreneurs” to establish dairy farms with 10 or more cows by January 2017.
In 2017, Stage I had been implemented as two phases — in May, under Phase I, the first batch of 2,000 ‘pregnant dairy heifers’ had arrived from New Zealand at the Trincomalee harbour and distributed to 21 farmers. In December, under Phase II, the second batch of 3,000 had arrived from Australia to be distributed to 47 farmers.
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