New Victorian tagging rules not needed in NSW
NSW Farmers has reiterated the need to ensure that the Victorian tagging requirements are not imposed on NSW sheep and goat producers.
From 1 January 2019 Victorian producers will have to ensure that all sheep and non-exempt goats are fitted with an electronic tag before leaving their Victorian property. The new requirements will not place any obligations on New South Wales producers.
Chair of the NSW Farmers Goat Committee, Katie Davies, said it was important that the Victorian electronic traceability system does not impose requirements on interstate producers.
“Each state must have control of the traceability requirements in their jurisdiction,” Ms Davies said
“New South Wales must have sole control of setting the traceability requirements for New South Wales producers and the Victorian electronic system must not dictate requirements to NSW producers”
“We cannot have a scenario where Victoria determines the traceability system that NSW producers need to comply with” she said.
Chair of the NSW Farmers Sheep Committee Floyd Legge reinforced NSW Farmers support for the mob based system continuing in NSW for sheep and goat traceability.
“We strongly support the mob based traceability system operating through the NLIS, as it is a proven and effective traceability tool”.
“NSW Farmers stands by its current policy that RFID’s can used as a management tool but must not be a mandatory impost on farmers”.
Mr Legge said that allowing sheep and goats with visual tags to enter Victoria was critical to maintaining supply volumes at key Victorian processors.
He urged the Victorian government to undertake an independent assessment of the effectiveness of the Victorian individual tagging system.
“Given Victoria is operating on a different traceability system to the rest of Australia, it must review the system to ensures its operations effectively and with the required level of accuracy”.
Date: Wednesday 12 December 2018
Media Contact: Michael Burt | 0428 228 988