Govt rules out live cattle export ban

The federal government has warned Australian exporters they will be "kicked out of the system" if they are found to have supplied live cattle to non-accredited abattoirs in Vietnam.

Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce was responding on Wednesday to claims Australian cattle have been slaughtered with sledgehammers in Vietnamese abattoirs.

"If people need to be kicked out of the system, they will," he said as Prime Minister Tony Abbott ruled out a ban on live cattle exports.

The Department of Agriculture is trying to ascertain whether allegations by Animals Australia relate to similar claims it has been investigating since March.

The animal welfare advocacy group says it has obtained footage showing cattle being hit repeatedly about the head with a sledgehammer, a traditional method of slaughter in Vietnam, but is withholding the footage because of its shocking nature.

Mr Abbott insists the government will take appropriate action if necessary.

"But the last thing we will do is close down this trade," he told reporters in Brisbane on Wednesday.

Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce says his department was alerted by exporters in March about three incidents in Vietnam abattoirs involving sledgehammers.

Investigations were underway into how three non accredited family-run operations obtained the animals.

"The cattle shouldn't have been there and that's the question: how did they leak into that chain?" Mr Joyce said.

It has yet to be confirmed whether the cattle in question are from Australia, but the abattoirs were operating outside the government's exporter supply chain assurance system.

"If prosecutions need to take place, they will," Mr Joyce said.

Animals Australia spokeswoman Lisa Chalk said the footage was from April and the fresh allegations were separate to the three cases the department was already investigating.

RSPCA chief scientist Bidda Jones said the government has been aware of the problem since June 2013.

"There have been six reports since then and a new one just last week," she told ABC TV.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said the government should be auditing markets receiving Australian cattle and punishing any breaches.

Labor's agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon has sent a letter to Mr Joyce requesting a briefing on the matter.

Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles said Australian authorities would "come down like a tonne of bricks" on people ignoring animal welfare standards in the live export trade.

Vietnam was the NT's second-largest live export market with 140,000 head of cattle sent there in 2014, but all territorians wanted livestock treated humanely, he said.

HOW MUCH IS VIETNAM WORTH TO AUSTRALIA?

* Vietnam has gone from Australia's 10th largest live export market to third largest within three years.

* Live trade in 2012-13 was valued at $12 million, representing two per cent of trade.

* The market was valued at $186 million in 2014 and continues to grow.