He said the key elements of ESCAS put the onus on the exporter through to slaughter - exporters were accountable for all aspects of the supply chain and subject to regular audits.
Austin Dohle (left) and Bill White, Wagin, Luke Ledwith, Dudinin, AWI board member David Webster and Raymond Edward, Belmont Park, Wagin.
Discussing live export matters were Xavier White (left), Wagin, Ben Robinson, Arthur River, Kelly Patterson, Wagin, WA Livestock Exporters Association chairman John Edwards and Shane Edwards, Quairading.
"Any breaches of ESCAS is an offence and punitive action will be taken and Australia is the only country facing such punitive action," he said.
"ESCAS has brought about a mountain of paperwork, for instance there is a required 84 point checklist when just submitting an export application.
"Export companies are having to employ special staff just to meet this massive paperwork requirement and that and other requirements are now costing our company alone, $750,000 a year.
"Importers are not against the introduction of ESCAS but some are offended about the implementation without prior consultation.
"A number of importers have very little time to get their systems in line with ESCAS requirements, including Saudi Arabia, which is one of our best and most reliable live export markets and a lot needs to be done for Saudi to continue as a major importer from Australia.
"This is not of any concern to the federal government as they see it as the export industry having to implement this.
"It is also causing some countries to lose confidence in Australia as being a long term reliable supplier and they are therefore looking at other exporting countries to meet their requirements.
"As a result, all Australian exporters are totally frustrated with the current federal government which has very little real knowledge of the live export industry.
"Their attitude is short term pain means long term gain which is completely the wrong attitude.
"The federal Opposition certainly knows the industry better than the current government and it uses what we give them politically and they will facilitate the trade rather than knock it."
A member of the audience said it was believed the Sheepmeat Council of Australia was predominantly concerned with lamb and mutton processing in the two major Eastern States sheep-producing States with little interest shown in the live export industry in WA.
"Where are all the articles in the papers about the crisis in the live sheep export industry here in WA compared to the problems we have seen in the live cattle export industry?" Mr Daws asked.
He went on to add the problem was because the live sheep situation was only in WA.
"I urge all of you here and all other sheep producers to become highly visible in live sheep export matters and become pro-active with what is happening in this your industry through your peak bodies which are not supporting the issue at the present.
"Take live export out of the market and see what happens come the flush of the season this year."
Accompanying Graham Daws to the meeting was WA Livestock Exporters Association chairman John Edwards who said there was a wealth of information regarding ESCAS on the Livecorp and MLA websites.
Of questions regarding sudden changes in requirement types for orders over the last eight to 12 months, Mr Edwards and Mr Daws said this had been brought about by the dramatic increase in competition from Middle East markets due to ESCAS problems.
"Orders change overnight due to quotes from other exporting countries and our local exporters have to comply to keep customers happy on both sides of the industry," Mr Edwards said.
On the current wool situation, Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) board member David Webster said AWI considered supply would hold.
"The flock is growing and pleasingly the ewe kill is reducing," he said.
"Supply went so low that it was difficult to put a product out there at a competitive price.
"Europe has always been a big luxury market but obviously this has changed somewhat yet against all odds the New York market is going up.
"We now see a big opportunity in China because it is growing rapidly in the luxury market.
"Marketing, however, is quite complex and you've got to move quickly, because fashions change monthly, even weekly."
Answering a question on AWI funding in China, Mr Webster said AWI had launched into a project and likened it to the Prince of Wales project which, when it evolved, saw increased sales.
On research and development matters, Mr Webster said R&D could be done better than it had been.
"AWI is now being run very hard and very tight," he said.
He also defended AWI's decision to introduce cuts in the field of genetics.
He said he believed the need was for projects which were going to make money for investors.
"A lot of other countries are doing a lot in sheep breeding matters and it needs to be considered where ownership will lie when corporates get involved in genomics and how are we going to cope with it in the future," Mr Webster said.
"I see it as a very serious situation and we are seeing such instances possibly arising in the bovine industry in the United States.
"Our current genetic industry has been able to supply big improvements in a short period of time.
"Environmental and management factors have a big bearing on efficiency and we have to maintain research in these fields and putting in funding into projects such as the AWI Lifetime Ewe."
On the question of mulesing, he said 2010 came and went and it was, in his opinion, very foolish of the previous board to be so very confrontationist.
Still on this matter he said a number of new products would be coming on the market and there were two projects being evaluated with one in Dubbo coming up with quite intensive results.
Another aspect to be considered was that China was now consuming a big percentage of Australia wool.
And finally on the matter of wool, Mr Webster reminded growers of the upcoming Wool Poll and hoped all would participate in the vote, particularly those present, who were obviously showing an interest in their industry by attending the meeting.