Freezing works ready to start ritual killing for Iranian market

Press, 11 October 1979, Page 1

Freezing works ready to start ritual killing for Iranian market

The management of bot’ the Waitaki N.Z. Refrigerating Company, and the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company are getting ready to employ Muslim slaughtermen to kill lambs for the Iranian market the way the Islamic State wants them killed.

The companies are waiting for confirmation from Iran of a lamb deal which could be worth $9O million for the industry as a whole. Meat industry officials left for Iran last week, and the big order for delivery some time next year is expected to be signed in the next few days.

Under the new Iranian Government which replaced the Shah, meat destined for the Iranian market must be killed accord-

ing to Islamic ritual, or halal. How this will be done has been decided after negotiations in the last year, and the Freezing Companies’ Association has already started advertising for Muslim slaughtermen to do the ritual killing to satisfy the market requirement.

A spokesman for the association said there had been several applications, but so far most were Muslims without slaughtering experience at freezing works.

He said the number needed would depend on the size of the order, but confirmed that about 30 to 40 Muslims would be a reasonable estimate. The Meat, Board has hired six slaughtermen from Iran to work in New Zealand. It

is thought the Iranians will ensure that the local Muslims are familiar with the correct ritual and technique. The hiring of Muslims is not seen as a problem by the Human Rights Commission, which considered the matter in August. The Chief Commissioner (Mr P. J. Downey) found that the hiring of Muslims would not be contrary to the act because there would be no work for anyone other than a Muslim where stock for the Iranian market was concerned, and because only a Muslim would be qualified for the particular job.

The Meat Workers’ Union also does not envisage any problem. The national secretary (Mr A. J. Kennedy) said the Muslims would be members of the union and would be paid the same as other slaughtermen. There would be no claim for a special rate for the special skills required he said. Seniority would not be a problem. Anyone displaced would have to be “carried" by the company concerned. The spokesman for the Freezing Companies’ Association said that the recital of the ritual prayer would be optional. If the Muslim slaughterman preferred, he could pray silently.

The general manager of the C.F.M company (Mr D. Morten) said the company had chosen Fairton for the Iranian market,

but was still waiting to hear that it had an order, and whether sufficient Muslim slaughtermen were available.

“We envisage getting all three chains going to satisfy the order, then switching to kill for our other markets,” he said.

The Waitaki company’s assistant general manager (Mr J. M. Ryan) said the company would kill for the Iranian market, but it was unable to finalise or confirm the precise works until "certain critical features” were more expressly defined. “We envisage having about 10 chains available,” he said. Mr Ryan said he thought traditional slaughtermen would be retained while the Muslim slaughtermen were working. The halal “stick" would be an additional one. “Before the halal slaughterman does his job we have to clip the weasand, so when he does stick the animal the con tents of the weasand do not spill on to the head of the animal. “So the cut he does is not the slash cut. It is not a total severance of the spinal chord. It severs only the main blood vessels. We still have to do a cut later to sever the spinal chord,” said Mr Ryan. He said the Muslim slaughterman would be expected to keep up with the chain at normal speeds.