Key European wool players need reassurance the wool industry is not fading away and Australia is on top of the mulesing issue.
This week a group of wool leaders have traveled to Europe to help restore confidence amongst key processors and retailers.
The development has been triggered by a meeting between Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) chairman Wally Merriman and Italian wool processor Count Paolo Zegna.
"Count Zegna indicated to me that they have been getting some mixed messages about how the wool industry is tracking and they need to get a level of reassurance from us, which I am happy to give," Mr Merriman said.
The goal of the trip is to instil confidence in various processors about the supply of wool and the current state of play with mulesing alternatives and to walk them through the National Wool Declaration system, which allows wool buyers to access non-mulesed wool.
The Australian Wool Exchange released figures this week showing in its first six months 62,000 bales were declared as either "non-mulesed", the property of origin had "ceased-mulesing" or sheep had been "mulesed with pain relief".
Given about one million bales were offered for sale across that period, some 6pc of the national offering has been declared under the categories.
"We will also be giving the processors some straight talking on the wool supply situation going forward, especially in regard to the declaration and the extra costs involved with producing non-mulesed wool," Mr Merriman said.
Meanwhile the latest wool production forecast has predicted the national clip will fall to 370 million kilograms greasy in 2008-09, the lowest clip in about 80 years and some processors are concerned with the increasing production of stronger wools as more sheep producers switch to meat production.
"This industry is very disconnected from one end to the other and some European spinners and weavers may not have the understanding of the Australian industry that some more vertically integrated players have," Mr Merriman said.
"We will be telling them that the wool industry is robust and will be in the market for the long haul."
Whilst mulesing forms part of the information exchange, Mr Merriman said he was happy with how the renewed antics of animal activists did not appear to be gaining traction.
"They have revamped their campaign against Australian wool and have written to retailers like Marks and Spencer in the UK but we are counteracting them by letting retailers know the truth about what is happening over here."
Leading the trip is former Australian Wool Services chairman and Yass woolgrower Barry Walker, who Mr Merriman said had great contacts throughout Europe, together with AWI strategic advisor Stuart McCullough, who will provide technical support.
Newly elected AWI director Meredith Sheil will also be on the trip and will explain the current state of play with mulesing research and the growing use of pain relief with the product she invented and others she is currently researching.
"She has a great understanding of the ethical production movement in Europe.
"It will certainly not be a Tri-Solfen field day and I know she is walking a fine line there but we’ll just have to cop that.
"No one can deny the development of Tri-Solfen has been a great animal welfare gain," Mr Merriman said.
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