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DOHNES AND AWEX's NEW CODE OF PRACTICE

DOHNE wool will be branded differently to Merino wool after the Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX) board signed off on the new national Woolclassers Code of Practice.
According to the new Code of Practice, Dohne fleece will now be required to have AAAM Dohne stencilled on the bale.
The decision has received mixed reaction from the industry, and the Australian Dohne Breeders Association (ADBA) put forward a submission to AWEX outlining their protest to the new code.
The ADBA claims that the code will unreasonably disadvantage Dohne breeders in the marketing and sale of Dohne wool, which would in turn affect the marketability of the Dohne breed.
"Our concern is with the proposed introduction into bale descriptions of mandatory breed group categories (and therefore descriptors) that unfairly and inappropriately distinguish the Dohne Merino from other Merino sheep," the ADBA submission said.
The ADBA believes that the labelling of wool derived from the Dohne as Merino and without any additional breed descriptor- meets both the legal obligation and the broader community interest in truth in labelling.
The AWEX code outlines Merino wool as being derived from an animal that is genetically a Merino.
In its submission, the ADBA raised the question as to when an animal is genetically a Merino.
"In Australia there are various strains of Merino, including (but not limited to) Saxon, Peppin, Egelabra, Collinsville, Bungaree Fonthill, Rambouillett, Merinosamm and Dohne," the submission said.
"These are what are described as pure lines.
"Added to this, there are a multitude of Merino crosses.
"On this basis the breed count becomes enormous, and is perhaps ultimately indefinable."
The Dohne by origin, selection and name, is a pure and highly developed Merino and it was for that reason the name Dohne Merino was retained in South Africa.
The ADBA said the word Dohne only indicates the origin of the concept for this line of Merino.
"On that analysis, there is no objective basis on which to sustain an argument that the Dohne Merino does not fall in the category of Merino for the purposes of bale descriptions, or that it should otherwise be distinguished in its own right from the other strains of Merino," the ADBA submission said.
"On the grounds of purity, the Dohne Merino has an equal claim to Merino status as any other Merino."
"No truth in labelling issue arises."
If truth in labelling was the driving force behind AWEX's purpose for including the breed group descriptor, then the ADBA claimed that AWEX must not discriminate against one or two breeds - it must add to the list all of the different strains of Merino including the Peppin Merino, Saxon Merino, South Australian Merino and the Spanish Merino.
The ADBA said it would be extremely difficult for a wool classer to determine at which stage the wool clips of these breeders and their clients should be branded with the Dohne description or an Australian Merino description.
"For this reason alone the bale description in the code of practice is untenable," the submission said.
The other argument repeatedly brought up with the branding debate is the occurrence of dark and medullated fibres.
The ADBA said they were aware of the market sensitivity to the issue and that it was a genetic risk with some breeds.
It was for that reason that they sent almost 14 tonnes of pure Dohne wool to China for testing on behalf of a German Mill.
The results were excellent, with both batches considered best/good fleece for spinning.
"If the risk associated with a particular genetic history is the basis of the new breed group branding requirement, then by singling out the Dohne Merino from other strains of Merino, AWEX is implying that the Dohne breed has a higher risk of dark and medullated fibre," the ADBA submission said.
The code of practice lists Australian Merino as having a very low risk of pigmented and/or medullated fibres and Dohne Merino as having a low risk.
The ADBA said a lot of Merino wools would fall outside those limits and therefore could not be classified as Merino even though they had come from a Merino animal.
"How could AWEX regard 28 micron Merino wool with a CV of 23pc and a comfort factor of 95pc as low risk superior wool but not 20 micron wool with a CV of 18pc and a comfort factor of 99.8pc grown on a Dohne stud ram?" the submission said.
"For the above reasons, we are of the view that the code of practice is discriminatory, inconsistent and misleading in its structure and application."
The ADBA concluded its submission by recommending that it should be mandatory for all Dohne wool types to continue to be branded AAAM.
If breed branding is a necessity by AWEX, the ADBA believes it should be consistent in identifying all Merino breed types.