6.6.1 - Deer must not be sourced for export if they are less than 6 months old, unless otherwise provided in a deer under 6 months of age management plan approved in writing by the department.

6.6.2 - Deer must not be sourced for export unless they have become conditioned to being handled and to eating and drinking from troughs for a minimum of 21 days.

6.6.3 - Deer must have been weaned for at least 8 weeks prior to sourcing for export, unless the exporter has approval under Standard 6.1.17 to export livestock with young at foot.

6.6.4 - Male deer must only be sourced for export or exported if they:

1. are not in velvet; or
2. are not in the first 2 weeks after velveting; or
3. have had antlers removed leaving only buttons and wounds have healed; and
4. are outside the roar and rut periods if over 1 year of age.

6.6.5 - Deer must not be sourced for export or exported unless they have been assessed by a competent stock handler against the deer body condition scoring in Table 31 and have a body condition score of 2 or more but less than 4 (on a scale of 1 to 5).

Table 31 Deer body condition score

Source: Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (now known as AgriFutures Australia)

6.6.6 - Female deer sourced for export as feeder or slaughter animals must be pregnancy tested using ultrasound within 30 days prior to export, by a competent pregnancy tester, and certified in writing by the tester as not detectably pregnant. The certification must include the certifier's name, veterinary registration number or attestation to experience and skill in pregnancy testing of deer, signature, the animal's identification and the date of the procedure.

6.6.7 - Female deer sourced for export as breeder animals must be:

1. pregnancy tested using ultrasound foetal measurement by a competent pregnancy tester; and
2. certified in writing by the competent pregnancy tester as either not detectably pregnant or pregnant and if pregnant include the number of days pregnant. The certification must include the certifier's name, veterinary registration number or attestation to experience and skill in pregnancy testing of deer, signature, the individual identification number of the animal and date of the procedure. Certification is valid for 60 days for not detectably pregnant deer, from the date of the procedure; and
3. no more than 155 days pregnant at the scheduled date of export for red, sambar, chital, hog, fallow or sika breed deer, unless otherwise provided in a last third of pregnancy management plan approved in writing by the department; or
4. no more than 160 days pregnant at the scheduled date of export for rusa and wapiti/elk breed deer, unless otherwise provided in a last third of pregnancy management plan approved in writing by the department.

6.6.8 - Floor space must be adequate to allow deer to lie down during transport.

6.6.9 - Deer must be penned in accordance with the minimum aircraft crate pen area requirement shown in Table 32. For weights between those shown in Table 32, the minimum pen area per head must be calculated by linear interpolation.

Table 32 Minimum aircraft crate pen area of deer exported by air