WPA president Ed Storey

AUSTRALIA’S sheep sustainability framework would demonstrate the nation’s wool is ethically and sustainably produced, WoolProducers Australia president Ed Storey has told the International Wool Textiles Organisation’s annual congress.

At the online IWTO Congress — Let’s talk Wool – last week, Mr Storey gave two presentations focusing on the world-first Australian Sheep Sustainability Framework and on WPA’s Trust in Australian Wool campaign.

“During the Sustainability Session of the IWTO Congress I spoke about the pride in our product that the Australian wool industry has, and that through the world-first SSF we now have the mechanism to demonstrate that our wool is ethically and sustainably produced,” Mr Storey said.

“Through the SSF we aim to increase the transparency of our sheep industry by providing robust data on material issues.

“Our industry can now showcase sustainability and unashamedly highlight areas for improvement,” he said.

Mr Storey told the congress that the Trust in Australian Wool campaign provided the industry with the ability to showcase the world-leading practices that wool growers practice every day, along with state and national frameworks, quality assurance systems and innovations.

“While we had many international attendees at our virtual launch of Trust in Australian Wool campaign in March, it was great to be able to keep promoting the campaign to another global audience,” he said.

WoolProducers said while the mulesing issue continued to cause concern amongst the international wool supply chain, initiatives such as the SSF and TIAW, provide a platform for the Australian wool industry to not only communicate how it is addressing this issue, but also places mulesing in context amongst the other animal husbandry procedures that Australian growers undertake to provide holistic animal welfare outcomes.

“I did not miss the opportunity to remind our supply chain partners, that wool growers are the biggest advocates of animal welfare and that we are the ones who invest in the wellbeing of our animals on a daily basis, not animal rights groups,” he said.

“The Australian wool industry has a great story to tell, and as president of WoolProducers, I am proud to continue to promote the positive and world-leading attributes that our industry possesses on behalf of all Australian wool growers.”