The Australian Wool Growers Association claims AWI's so-called "silver bullet" mulesing alternative is being trialled on dead sheep.
But AWI has dismissed the attack as a political manoeuvre to undermine AWI's attempts to provide a solution to the mulesing dilemma.
AWGA says it will write to the Federal Minister for Agriculture, Tony Burke, seeking clarification of Australian Wool Innovation's (AWI) recent public claims about new "painless" mulesing alternatives known as a "silver bullet".
An AWI media release on September 8 stated: "The new technologies designed to combat flystrike in Merino lambs are painless and leave no open wound."
At the time AWI chairman, Brian van Rooyen, said that in both cases the area treated sufficiently enlarges the bare breech area and also removes the breech wrinkle of the Merino genotypes which have been tested so far.
But AWGA claims a "bombshell was dropped" at the AWI Roadshow meetings in South Australia last week when AWI director, Dr Chris Abell, stated the research on these "silver bullet" technologies had been conducted on dead sheep.
"How can AWI make claims that the new mulesing alternative is painless and leaves no open wound if it has only been tested on dead sheep, indeed, even that it works?" AWGA chairman Martin Oppenheimer said in a media statement today.
He argues public claims such as this go against the Australian Code for The Responsible Conduct of Research, which outlines that discussion of findings should not occur in the public arena until the findings have been tested through independent peer review.
Mr Oppenheimer said it was also against the code to release results publicly before informing all interested parties, but he said this had also occurred as several members of the AWI Board were unaware that the trials had even taken place.
But AWI chairman Brian van Rooyen said he was disappointed that AWGA was undermining woolgrowers’ investment in the potential mulesing solutions offered by FSP-1 and FSP-2.
In a press release issued late today, AWI challenged AWGA's credibility but did not address the claims about research being conducted on dead sheep.
AWI said it was undertaking large scale trials of the new FSP technologies in South Australia through SARDI and expects to undertake similar trials across other states in the next few months.
"Our international customers are watching how we fix this issue, so that they can get on with selling this great natural fibre," Mr van Rooyen said.
"AWGA is not only working behind the scenes to undermine this, but publicly trying to stop or slow down the development of this breakthrough.
"This is the same approach that AWGA used to undermine the development of the clips as an alternative fly strike prevention method.
"At a time when the industry really needs public unity, AWGA keeps dishing up a media cocktail of criticism and innuendo based on unproven conjecture.
"This continued carping negativism is what we and the industry generally have come to expect from AWGA, its president and its supporters."
Mr Oppenheimer said woolgrowers urgently need to be reassured that AWI has conducted the 'silver bullet' technology research correctly and with integrity.
"We need confidence in AWI and that statements and claims of results can be trusted," the AWGA statement says.
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