Murray Local Land Services is reminding producers to use the most recent version of the national vendor declaration (NVD) when selling sheep or goats.
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Biosecurity officer Neale Whitsed said older NVDs might not contain the detail buyers want to meet the requirements of the domestic or international market.
"It's vital that NVDs are up to date and filled in correctly, as they are an essential part of the National Livestock Identification System, which allows us to trace livestock and maintain food safety and market access," he said.
Mr Whitsed said while filling in their NVD, livestock owners selling sheep or goats they did not breed can either:
- List all of the property identification codes (PICs) found on the animals' NLIS tags if they are different from the one printed on the NVD form. This will be only one PIC if all animals were born on the same property, or several if a mob is made up of stock born on several different properties
- Or, identify each animal with your NLIS pink post breeder tag. This tag will have the same PIC as the one printed on the NVD.
"(NVDs) are an essential part of the National Livestock Identification System, which allows us to trace livestock and maintain food safety and market access."
- Neale Whitsed
"When applying a pink tag, do not remove any previous tags that are still present as they are needed for lifetime traceability," Mr Whitsed said. "This is so important that it is illegal to remove any NLIS device from an animal. If any stock have lost their original breeder tag, they should be identified with a pink post breeder tag."
Mr Whitsed said before selling, producers should:
- Ensure all sheep or goats are tagged with an NLIS device
- Any non-vendor-bred sheep or goats missing tags must be identified with a post breeder tag
- Complete NVDs ensuring all sections are filled out, and record all PICs present in the consignment if a post breeder tag hasn't been applied.
To obtain the most current version of the NVD waybill, contact livestock production assurance on 1800 683 111 or visit lpa.ausmeat.com.au NVDs are also available in an electronic version from the LPA website. For more details on NLIS requirements, contact your closest Local Land Services office.