New NAIT mandatory tagging date announced

5 September 2011

New Zealand’s mandatory national animal identification and tracing (NAIT) scheme is set to commence for cattle on 1 July next year (2012), NAIT Ltd Chief Executive Russell Burnard announced today.

NAIT Ltd is the industry-owned company responsible for implementing the NAIT scheme for cattle and deer, designed to link people, property and livestock. The scheme will assure New Zealand’s overseas markets that a livestock disease can be quickly contained in the event of any biosecurity incidents. NAIT Limited’s shareholders are Beef + Lamb New Zealand, DairyNZ, and Deer Industry New Zealand.

The announcement follows achievement of key milestones giving NAIT Ltd and its partners confidence to proceed with planning for a 1 July 2012 mandatory implementation for cattle. Deer are set to join the scheme on 1 March 2013.

Milestones include the Primary Production Select Committee report to Parliament recommending the NAIT scheme be mandatory from 1 July 2012, and recent agreement for the NAIT scheme’s IT system to be provided by New Zealand IT company Fronde Systems Group.

“NAIT’s cross-party support in Parliament bodes well for the NAIT Bill being passed after the election. This, and confirmation of our system provider, gives our industry shareholders confidence the NAIT scheme is well placed for a 1 July mandatory date,” Mr Burnard said.

NAIT Ltd will be communicating directly with a letter to all cattle and deer farmers in October to provide more detail. This will include practical information on tagging of animals and what farmers need to do and when for registrations and animal movement requirements.

The information will also give farmers details about public consultation planned for October this year on proposed tag and slaughter levies.

“From early next year, farmers will be able to register themselves with NAIT and be ready when the scheme becomes mandatory.

“Our message to farmers continues to be: keep on tagging your animals with NAIT-approved RFID tags. Tag your animals when they are young and easier to handle to prepare for the NAIT scheme next year and to avoid double-handling or re-tagging costs.

“To date, uptake for preparing for the mandatory NAIT scheme and tagging early has been impressive and I am pleased we are now at a point when we can indicate with confidence to farmers the date for which they need to prepare for mandatory tagging of cattle and animal movement recording so they can plan accordingly,” Mr Burnard said.

Fronde is an existing member of MAF's supplier panel for Solution Development and Support. Fronde currently develops and supports the MAF Climate Change Information System (CCIS) and Incursion Response System (IRS), along with other core MAF business applications. Fronde is one of the preferred ICT suppliers for seven government agencies and is a Microsoft certified partner.

For more information about NAIT scheme and tagging rules go to: www.NAIT.co.nz (offsite link to www.NAIT.co.nz).

Contact: Emma Reilly 04 894 0581 / 021 680 167

Information for farmers - tagging guide to prepare for NAIT

NAIT Ltd encourages farmers to continue tagging new born cattle with NAIT-RFID ear tags to avoid having to retag older animals.

For cattle going to slaughter from now until NAIT is mandatory, the current bar-coded tagging system remains in place as it is essential that animals’ details can continue to be read and recorded at slaughter plants.

Dates to diary

1 July 2012 Tagging of cattle with NAIT-approved RFID tags is mandatory

1 Feb 2012 Farmer registration can commence on a voluntary basis

1 Feb 2012 Farm/property registration can commence on a voluntary basis

1 Jul 2012 Animal registration is mandatory for cattle (pending passing of legislation)

1 Jul 2012 Animal movement recording is mandatory for cattle (pending passing of legislation)

National Identification Animal Tracing (NAIT)

NAIT’s system will quickly and accurately trace infected cattle and properties via Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) ear tags and a central database of animal locations. Data collected will enable containment of biosecurity incidents so trade resumes quicker after such an event.

The NAIT scheme is an industry-led initiative, begun in 2004 when industry approached the Government to work together to improve animal tracing and match international biosecurity regimes. The Government agreed to fund development of a mandatory, national animal identification and tracing scheme for cattle and deer.

New Zealand is behind international counterparts in terms of individual animal lifetime traceability. Canada introduced a mandatory cattle identification system in 2002, and Australia in 2005.

NAIT ownership and funding

The Government is providing the capital expenditure to build the NAIT system and funding 35 percent of the ongoing operational expenditure. The remaining 65 percent of NAIT’s operational expenditure will be met by industry shareholders through a mix of direct funding and levies on NAIT RFID ear tags and carcasses at point of slaughter. NAIT Ltd’s industry shareholders representing the beef, dairy and deer sectors are:

Until 1 July 2012, NAIT Limited’s shareholders, DairyNZ, Beef+Lamb New Zealand, Deer Industry NZ (DINZ), have agreed to cover its costs with additional funding from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Shareholders have decided that once the scheme is mandatory, NAIT scheme costs will be recovered from cattle farmers via tag and slaughter levies, and through DINZ for deer farmers.In October, when more information will be available, NAIT Limited will consult with farmers on how levies are collected after 1 July 2012.

NAIT traceability scheme benefits

The purpose of the NAIT system is to safeguard the New Zealand brand and farmers’ income by protecting market access for New Zealand animal products through enhancing regulatory and consumer confidence in New Zealand’s ability to manage biosecurity incidents. NAIT is a system to enable the rapid and accurate tracing of animals from birth to slaughter, and to provide key information related to these animals and the properties on which they have resided.

NAIT organisation

The role of NAIT Limited is to get the scheme up and running. Once that has been achieved, it is anticipated it will merge with the Animal Health Board. The new organisation will combine the operations of both, reducing the duplication of services and creating synergies.