Kuwait has expressed strong opposition to the Australian government's plans to ban live sheep exports, highlighting the potential negative impacts on their food security and relations. The trade, which has been ongoing for 60 years, is vital to Kuwait. In response, Kuwait's minister for commerce and industry, Mazin Saad Al-Nahedh, wrote to Australia's Agriculture Minister Murray Watt and ambassador Melissa Kelly, expressing his concerns and drawing attention to the importance of the trade. Kuwait's stance has been supported by Australian farmers, who are urging protests to save the trade and express fears that the sheep export ban may be the beginning of wider restrictions.