Animals Australia lodged an ESCAS complaint with Mr Joyce’s Department last week saying it had evidence of the “horrific sledge hammering to death” of Australian cattle in Vietnam.

The move prompted Australian Greens animal welfare spokesperson Senator Lee Rhiannon to say the new allegations were “further evidence that the live export trade must end”.

“This shocking report again highlights that the welfare of stock exported from Australia cannot be controlled from a desk in Canberra,” Senator Rhiannon said.

“These latest acts of extreme animal cruelty further underline the failure of Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce to manage the industry so it meets accepted animal welfare standards and for the benefit of farming communities.

“Ending the live export trade can also bring enormous benefits to Australia farming communities.

“Rebuilding the domestic meat manufacturing industry by opening up abattoirs across regional and rural Australia would create thousands of jobs and help secure Australia a stronger place in the expanding international trade in processed meat.”

But Mr Joyce today told ABC Radio the federal government would not be issuing a blanket ban on the Vietnamese market but individual exporters could be penalised, pending the investigation outcome.

“Like all these things when there’s a problem we investigate it (and) we find out if we need to take action,” he said.

“If we need to suspend someone’s licence, who is unable to manage it, then we will do that but we won’t be suspending the whole trade.”

Mr Joyce said the ESCAS system was designed to try and prevent animal cruelty issues and “no other nation has it”.

“There are one hundred nations in the world that export live cattle (but) we are the only country that has a process that tries to follow these things through,” he said.

“If this happens with other nations who export live cattle they just let it go through to the keeper.

“We do not do that – we do not accept this – so we will investigate it and find out if there is an instance that one of our live exporters are not able to control cattle within their system and we will deal with it.

(But) there won’t be a general ban on live exports.”

Mr Joyce said a range of penalties were available to government do deal with the issue but “let’s get the details first”.

He said his Department’s investigation of the Vietnam incident would take as long as necessary to ensure it gathered “proper information”.

Asked if the government was monitoring animal welfare in live export markets closely enough, Mr Joyce again reiterated the role of ESCAS.

He said if Australia didn’t have an ESCAS system “we’d be the same as every other country which doesn’t have it”.

 “Every other country in the world believes that once they (exported animals) leave the ports they’re no longer their responsibility,” he said.

“We don’t have that view.

“These issues are barbaric and we will investigate it and if penalties need to be applied we will apply them.

“In Australia we claim responsibility and we own the responsibility after we sell cattle.

“The other 100 countries in the world that export live cattle, they don’t.

“They believe that once you sell them, they’re gone.

“Now, we don’t have that view, - we’re the only country in the world that doesn’t have that view - and we try to see things right through the supply chain and that’s what we’ll do in this instance.”

Vietnam has become an important market for Australian live cattle since it opened about two years ago, importing 181,542 head in 2014 – up from 67,000 the year before.

But concerns have been held about the expanding market over leakages from the ESCAS system due to on-selling of cattle in particular into China, tempted by higher prices.

Exporters say the problems with supply chain leakages are limited to supply chains in North Vietnam but measures have been taken to try and curtail importers breaking contractual obligations and ESCAS requirements – including banning three importers.

Australian Livestock Exporters Council (ALEC) chief executive Alison Penfold said industry met in late March and agreed to implement tighter measures like CCTV monitoring and ear tag verification measures.

Ms Penfold said two Vietnamese importers had been suspended since industry met in late March, to implement tighter supply chain measures to resolve issues like supply chain leakages it was aware were occurring.

Wellard Rural Exports also banned one importer in Vietnam about two years ago and has not supplied further cattle, for a supply chain leak which resulted in a Department investigation.