6.5.1 - Cattle must have been weaned at least 14 days prior to sourcing for export, unless the exporter has approval under Standard 6.1.17 to export livestock with young at foot.

6.5.2 - Cattle sourced for export must have an individual liveweight of between 150kg and 650kg (inclusive). Animals outside these weights must not be sourced for export or exported, unless:

1. for cattle less than 150kg, the exporter has approval under Standard 6.1.20 to export miniature or light weight breed livestock; or
2. for cattle more than 650kg, otherwise provided in a heavy cattle management plan approved in writing by the department.

6.5.3 - Cattle must not be sourced for export or exported unless they have been assessed by a competent stock handler against the non-dairy breed cattle body condition scoring in Table 29 or dairy breed cattle body condition scoring in Figure 5 and have a body condition score of:

1. for non-dairy breed cattle, 2 or more but less than 5 (on a scale of 0 to 5); and
2. for dairy breed cattle, 3.5 or more but less than 5.5 (on a scale of 1 to 8).

Table 29 Non-dairy breed cattle body condition score

Figure 4 Visual aid for assisting with body condition scoring of non-dairy breed cattle

Source: Cattle Council of Australia

Figure 5 Dairy breed cattle body condition score (diagram shows 3 to 6 on scale of 1 to 8)

Source: DEPI (Vic)

6.5.4 - Female cattle sourced for export as feeder or slaughter animals must:

1. be accompanied by a vendor spay declaration from the owner or manager of the premises where the procedure was performed including name, contact information and signature, that certifies that the animal has been spayed not less than 30 days prior to export using the Willis dropped ovary technique and includes the animal's individual NLIS identification number and date of the procedure; or
2. be accompanied by a vendor spay declaration from the owner or manager of the premises where the procedure was performed including name, contact information and signature, that certifies that the animal has been spayed not less than 280 days prior to export and includes the animal's individual NLIS identification number and date of the procedure; or
3. be pregnancy tested using manual palpation, approved blood test, or if the animal is too small to be manually palpated safely, ultrasound within 30 days prior to export, by a registered veterinarian who must certify in writing that the animal is not detectably pregnant. The certification must include the certifier's name, registration number and signature, and the animal's individual NLIS identification number and the date of the procedure.

6.5.5 - Female cattle sourced for export as breeder animals must be no more than 190 days pregnant at the scheduled date of export, unless otherwise provided in a last third of pregnancy management plan approved in writing by the department, and must be pregnancy tested:

1. by a registered veterinarian using an approved blood test; and
   1. if the test result is negative, be certified in writing as not detectably pregnant; or
   2. if the test result is positive, undergo testing as per b) or c) below; or
2. by a registered veterinarian that attests to current experience and competency in cattle pregnancy diagnosis, using manual palpation; and
   1. if the test result is negative, be certified in writing as not detectably pregnant; or
   2. if the test result is positive, be certified in writing as pregnant with number of days pregnant stated; or
3. by a registered veterinarian that is accredited under the PREgCHECK (NCPD) Scheme if the animal is too small to be manually palpated safely, using ultrasound; and
   1. if the test result is negative, be certified in writing as not detectably pregnant; or
   2. if the test result is positive, be certified in writing as pregnant with number of days pregnant stated; and
4. with the certification stating the animal's individual NLIS identification number and date of the procedure, the certifier’s name, registration number and signature, their PREgCHECK accreditation number and a statement of their accreditation if ultrasound is used, and the animal’s individual NLIS identification number. Certification is valid for 60 days for not detectably pregnant cattle, from the date of the procedure.

6.5.6 - Unless otherwise provided in a long-horned livestock management plan approved in writing by the department, cattle with horns must only be sourced for export or exported if the:

1. solid the non-vascular tip has been removed to a diameter of 3cm (or less if the horn vasculature does not allow) and horns have a blunt horn end; and
2. horns are no longer than 12cm in length at the time of export.

6.5.7 - Cattle must be penned in accordance with the minimum aircraft crate pen area requirements shown in Table 30. For weights between those shown in Table 30, the minimum pen area per head must be calculated by linear interpolation.

6.5.8 - When calculating pen space allocation, the pen area per head must be increased by 10% for cattle with horns.

Table 30 Minimum aircraft crate pen area for cattle exported by air