Minister U-turns on Kiwi shechita ban
AS lawyers for the New Zealand Jewish community completed their final preparations ahead of a High Court challenge against the ban on shechitah (kosher slaughter), there was a last-minute reprieve for the country's kosher consumers.
AS lawyers for the New Zealand Jewish community completed their final preparations ahead of a High Court challenge against the ban on shechitah (kosher slaughter), there was a last-minute reprieve for the country’s kosher consumers.
Late on Friday afternoon, an agreement between the legal team and the Minister of Agriculture allowed for the resumption of poultry shechitah, which was effectively outlawed in May this year with the introduction of a new animal welfare code requiring that animals be stunned before slaughter.
Despite high level meetings between the communal leaders and the Government, a refusal to exempt shechitah was not reviewed, forcing the community to take legal action.
The settlement was reached just three days before the matter was due to be heard in Wellington’s High Court, and two days before a local newspaper alleged the decision by New Zealand’s
Agriculture Minister was made not out of humanitarian concerns, as originally claimed, but to preserve the country’s meat trade with Muslim countries and to protect his personal investments.
The New Zealand Herald reported on Sunday that David Carter was advised trade could suffer if regulations applied to halal slaughter were not also applied to kosher slaughter.
This claim was already being investigated before the newspaper report by Auckland community member Jonathan Shenken, who claimed that when he began digging for information, the majority of his requests were obstructed. “It made me very suspicious,” he told The AJN. But he eventually reached the same conclusion as the newspaper.
According to the Register of Pecuniary Interests of Members of Parliament, Minister Carter owns shares in two of the country’s meat export companies. However, in a statement published by the Herald, he denied allegations of conflict of interest.
“Claims that business interests determined my decision on the Commercial Slaughter Code are totally baseless,” Carter said. “Animal welfare was the primary consideration in making this decision.”
New Zealand Jewish Council President Stephen Goodman said he was “very relieved” by the poultry development.
“It is disappointing that it took legal action for the Government to come to a negotiated solution,” he said.
The issue of slaughtering lamb remains under negotiation, while kosher beef will continue to be imported from Australia, as it was before the ban.
DALIA SABLE
comments