Animal tracing gets go-ahead

Fairfax

WHO'S THAT? The National Animal Identification and Tracing scheme will become mandatory first for beef in October next year, followed by venison the year after.

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A scheme to trace beef and venison back to the farm it came from has been given the go-ahead by the Government.

The National Animal Identification and Tracing (Nait) project, more than two years in the planning, would get government funding, Agriculture Minister David Carter said yesterday.

It is expected to become mandatory for beef after a short voluntary period in October next year and to be joined by venison the following year. Sheep meat is expected to be added later.

The scheme was prompted by food safety concerns overseas after a series of outbreaks of mad cow disease in North America and Europe and foot and mouth disease in Europe.

Mr Carter said Nait would help maintain the confidence of export markets in the safety and disease-free status of New Zealand's livestock products. It would also boost the country's ability to prepare and respond to disease outbreaks.

Under Nait, farmers will have to tag cattle and deer with electronic identifiers and record when they move animals between properties.

Meat and dairy industry organisations gave their support to the scheme yesterday, but Federated Farmers said it remained opposed.

Spokesman Lachlan McKenzie disputed the $2-$3 cost of the special tags needed to comply, saying it omitted the extra cost to the farmer of the time taken to enter the data, and extra processor and saleyard fees. Those in areas without broadband fibre penetration would have to go to the expense of adopting satellite or 3G mobile broadband connection.

However, Mr Carter said that most farmers he had spoken to could see the necessity of having a "robust and internationally credible traceability scheme".

Mr McKenzie said no country was requiring the Nait concept as part of entry criteria for New Zealand beef, lamb or venison and asked that the scheme be voluntary until markets demanded it as a condition of access.

But Mr Carter said New Zealand's trading partners were increasingly demanding such a scheme and said it was important it was compulsory for all cattle and deer farmers because complete records of individual animal movements were needed to ensure an effective response to a biosecurity breach.

Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand chairman Malcolm Bailey said people wanted to know their food was safe.

"The dairy industry can trace back when, how and where a product is produced, but it hasn't been able to pin it to a particular cow, and consumers want to know that now."

DairyNZ chairman John Luxton said: "Given the importance of the dairy industry to the New Zealand economy, it is vital that we have the best biosecurity protection and response in the world.

"This includes being able to rapidly and effectively manage and contain any animal health outbreak to minimise the negative economic impacts on farmers and the industry."

Meat & Wool New Zealand chairman Mike Petersen said: "Most of the major beef trading nations around the world already have animal ID systems in place and if we don't keep up, our trade might be compromised.

"This has been a compelling driver for us, but so too has been making sure we get a system in place that farmers can afford."

Australia, Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina have similar traceability systems and the United States and Canada are developing them.

- © Fairfax NZ News