New Zealand National Identification & Tracing Scheme for Cattle & Deer

  NAIT MANDATORY REGULATIONS NOW APPLY - CONSULT NAIT IF IN ANY DOUBT  

 Earnotching and General IDentification Links

The ANIMAL HEALTH BOARD Identification Programme "PRIOR TO NAIT REGISTRY"

a. AHB National Register of Herds

i. Under the National Pest Management Strategy for bovine tuberculosis, every person who owns or is in charge of cattle or deer is obliged to notify the AHB.

ii. Each herd will be allocated a unique herd number.

iii. This herd number will be required to be printed on official tags issued to that person under the identification programme.

iv. Alternatively, the identification programme will allow for persons to use other herd/farm/business identifiers on official tags, provided those identification systems have also been approved by MAF' Director-General under the Biosecurity Act 1993 and associated regulations. AHB anticipates one such approved system will be the Livestock Improvement Corporation's MINDA programme currently used by dairy farmers and some beef producers.

v. The AHB's national herd register will link approved identification numbers to the person(s) in charge of a herd.

vi. The herd register will also record the issue of devices which either carry the unique herd number used by the AHB, or in the case of radio frequency devices, have a unique number linked to that herd number.

vii. The cost of establishing and maintaining this register will be the responsibility of the AHB. The Board proposes to fund this programme by way of a levy on each identification device. Costs associated with recording individual identifiers will be funded by parties other than the AHB.

b. Obligations of Persons Keeping Cattle and Deer

i. Cattle/deer whose first movement after reaching one month of age is directly to a registered slaughter premises (under the Meat Act), are to be identified with either an official primary ear tag or a direct-to-slaughter device.

ii. In all other cases of movement from the herd, the cattle/deer are to be identified with both an official primary ear tag and an official secondary identification device.

iii. Official identification devices are to be inserted/applied as recommended by the supplier.

iv. Primary and secondary devices may be inserted/applied at any time prior to movement from the herd.

v. From time to time, persons in charge of herds will be required to notify the identification system issuing the herd/farm/business number of those devices which have been inserted or applied.

vi. When an animal loses an original identification device, the person in charge must ensure the animal is correctly identified prior to its next movement from the herd. The following options for replacing lost tags apply:

(1) If the animal was first identified on the current farm (ie the lost device carried the current herd's business/farm/herd number), either:

(a) Apply to the approved identification system for a replacement tag which will carry the identical numbers as were printed on the lost device; or

(b) Re-tag with a new primary ear tag or secondary device.

(2) If the animal was initially identified in another herd (ie the device carried a herd/farmer/business number different to the current herd), either:

(a) If the animal's movements from herd to herd are being recorded by a programme (eg performance recording group) which is certified by the operators of the approved identification system, an application can be made for the issue of a replacement tag which carries the identical numbers printed on the lost device: or

(b) The animal may be re-tagged with an Official Replacement device; this device will carry the herd/farm/business number for the herd the animal is currently in.

vii. It will be an offence to:

(1) Move cattle/deer one month of age or older which are not officially identified from their herd (whether this be for grazing, slaughter, sale, to a show of for any other purpose) unless written permission has been given by an inspector or authorised person under the Biosecurity Act 1993.

(2) The maximum penalty for this office for an individual is $50,000 fine and/or 12 months imprisonment, or for a corporation, $100,000 fine.

viii. It will also be an offence to:

(1) Remove, without reasonable excuse, official identification devices without the written permission of an inspector or authorised person under the Biosecurity Act 1993;

(2) Alter or deface any device inserted/applied as part of the official indentification programme;

(3) Insert/apply official identification devices into cattle/deer other than those devices marked/encoded with the appropriate herd/farm/business identity for the enterprise/

ix. If a person fails or refuses to use one of the approved identification systems required by the proposed Tb identification regulations, the maximum penalty for this offence will be a fine of $5,000 in the case of an individual and $15,000 in the case of a corporation.

x. The cost of purchasing and inserting the identification devices will be a direct charge to the purchaser/user.

C. Identification Devices

Identification devices used within the programme are required to be specified by the approved supplier and are to perform to specifications nominated by NAIT. As from 1st July 2012 a singular RFID Tag device was able to be ordered for cattle - 1st March 2013 for Deer- preferrably to be placed in the right ear according to manufacturer instructions.

 

ID Information for Earnotching                                                                < page top >

Registered Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries
Approved Earmarker Designs
Sheep Sizes Shown Half Size. (Cattle size also available)

Rimcuts


Quarters


Punch Holes



Useful IDentification Links                                                                     < page top >

AgriQuality New Zealand
Formerly part of the ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, AgriQuality New Zealand was formed on November 1, 1998, their customer base includes producers, processors, manufacturers retailers and exporters in the Agri-Food business. Has provided technical support for the ANIMAL HEALTH BOARD National ID program for cattle and deer.

Beef New Zealand
Contains New Zealand beef research, industry statistics, Angus, Hereford and Simmental cattle plus links to other sites.

CRV AmBreed
Based in Hamilton They provide quality semen and other dairy services.

Livestock Improvement
The site for all "MINDA" services.

MAF - Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
Government information site including livestock health standards and diseases.

NAIT - National Animal Identification and Tracing - New Zealand

New Zealand Dairy Board
Responsible for the global marketing of New Zealand dairy products.

New Zealand Forestry
Source for information about the New Zealand forest industry, and New Zealand Pine in particular.

New Zealand National Fieldays
The largest annual trade expo in New Zealand and one of the largest agriculture expos in the world. Online databases of over 1000 exhibitors, and thousands of products and services listings.

PigWin (FarmPro Limited)
PigWin is a new and innovative decision support and pig production management system. It is developed by a top international team of pig experts and experienced software developers.