WOOL growers wanting to retain the support of European and North American retailers will need to use declarations for the mulesing status of their clips.

That's the view of US lobbyist Erik Autor, vice-president of the National Retail Federation.

  • Has AWI done enough to find a genetic solution to mulesing? Click here to vote now
  • Have Your Say now in the form below

Mr Autor, who was a signatory to the agreement to end surgical mulesing from December 2010, is in Australia as a guest of Australian Wool Innovation to talk about the wool trade.

Mr Autor said while it was obvious Australia would be unable to meet the deadline, he believed retailers would continue to demand non-mulesed wool for their product ranges.

But recognising there would be shortages of these wools, Mr Autor said retailers would take the next option of demanding declarations on the mulesing status of the wool.

"They (the retailers) will be wanting to show their customers they are moving towards using non-mulesed wool in their product ranges," he said.

Mr Autor said many farmers he had spoken to during his visit to NSW and South Australia had wanted to see market signals for non-mulesed wool.

"I can tell you there won't be market signals or premiums for non-mulesed until 60 per cent of the wool was declared. Then we might see discounts for mulesed wool," he said.

"Retailers don't buy raw wool, so they can't be expected to pay a premium.

"That is something for the wool buyers or processors to pass on in the market price for non-mulesed wool."

The latest AWEX data indicates 11 per cent of the clip carries declarations regarding the mulesing status or use of pain relief in conjunction with mulesing.

Mr Autor said it appeared genetics was going to be the answer to the mulesing issue.

"Some people I spoke to said genetics can take two years, while some farmers said it could take up to 20 years, and I guess the answer is somewhere in between," he said.

Mr Autor said he had spoken to some farmers who had been involved in the intradermal research - an injection to help sheep shed the wool around their breech - and were impressed with the results.

Before this visit Mr Autor said the view of his membership was that they would be demanding non-mulesed wool and if it could not be supplied then that was something for the Australian wool grower to sort out with PETA.

"But the view taking I'll be taking back is that Australia is striving to address the issue," he said.