Indonesia promised on Wednesday to investigate allegations of cruel and inhumane treatment of livestock in its abattoirs after Australia suspended live beef exports to 11 slaughterhouses.
But in Australia, concerns are growing that it may be business as usual where exports are concerned, despite the government announcement that export to some slaughterhouses would be halted.
ABC Radio reported that cattle shipments to Indonesia were continuing from Australian ports.
Amid calls for a probe in Indonesia, agriculture ministry livestock department chief Prabowo Respatiyo Caturroso conceded there were no regulations in Indonesian law that could be used to sanction slaughterhouses found to be abusing animals.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
"We'll send officials to all the abattoirs to investigate if there's animal mistreatment. We'll punish those proven to have committed animal cruelty," Caturroso told AFP.
But asked what sanctions the offending abattoirs could face, he paused and said: "Actually, none yet".
"We have a 2009 draft law covering animal welfare but it hasn't been implemented yet. And we're still formulating the sanctions. We'll speed up the process of implementation," he said.
Australia on Tuesday suspended live beef exports to Indonesian slaughterhouses featured in a report on the ABC which showed gruesome footage of cattle being mistreated and abused.
Australian Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig described the behaviour as "completely unacceptable".
"No one accepts the mistreatment of animals," Ludwig told a news conference amid a national uproar over the Aus$684.5 million (US$734 million) live cattle trade, 60 percent of which goes to Indonesia.
He also ordered an independent inquiry into the treatment of animals along the entire supply chain to Indonesia, a rapidly developing country of 240 million people.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim-majority country and claims to adhere to strict Islamic rules governing the humane "halal" slaughtering of animals.
An official with the country's largest Islamic body, the Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI), said the "haram" or forbidden slaughtering of animals had to stop.
"This is sinful if we continue to let it happen. The government and the MUI have a responsibility to immediately stop the practices which are against animal welfare," MUI food, drugs and cosmetics chief Lukman Hakim said.
Grand Imam Ali Mustafa Yaqub of Jakarta's Istiqlal Mosque, the country's biggest, said abusing animals was "strictly forbidden in Islam".
In Jakarta's supermarkets, shoppers expressed mixed feelings. Some dismissed the controversy but others wondered whether the country's Islamic authorities knew of the abuse when they certified the beef as halal.
"It's the job of the Islamic authorities to check that the animals are being slaughtered in a halal way and treated well," 43-year-old housewife Nonny said.
"It's a religious obligation of every Muslim to treat animals kindly. After hearing this news, I'll protest by only eating fish until the government stops the cruelty."
But Yusuf, 58, an IT expert, said he could not understand the fuss.
"Killing an animal for food is just as bad as abusing it, no? I'll continue to eat all types of meat slaughtered in Indonesia or elsewhere because I'm not a hypocrite," he said.
