NSW Farmers Association - Priority Issue 1

Committee Members
Peter Roberson (chair)
Peter Carter
Darrell Ringland (dairy)
Kenton Shaw (pork)
Bob Barwell

NSW Farmers'
Association Staff
E nswfarmers@
nswfarmers.org.au

P 02 8251 1700
F 02 8251 1750

Member Service
Centre
1300 794 000

1. NLIS - Community expectations

The Australian Meat Industry Council of Australia has made an announcement that their members would not be bidding on stock that has not been tagged with a NLIS tag. This stand is in contrast to the exemptions that are still avaliable to stock sold direct to abattoirs on a ‘over the hooks’ basis, these exemptions are up for review this year. The committee will continue to monitor this issue to ensure member’s interests are best served.

New NLIS Tag retention trials are underway and will be completed at approximately the same time as the comprehensive system review (Sheepcatcher). These trials will hopefully expand the number of approved tags that producers have avaliable to use, reducing the cost burden producers are expected to bare. The Committee is eagerly awaiting the release of the Sheepcatcher results and the accompanying recommendation on how the current system can be improved. We have been informed that we cannot expect the results until the DPI has Equine Influenza under control.

The Sheepmeats Committee totally opposes any move to mandatory electronic tagging for NLIS Sheep and Goats unless it fits within the guidelines set down in our policy. However this does not mean that further research should not be supported to establish options for the future, be they electronic or an enhanced visual model.

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1. NLIS - Community expectations