Improving traceability of sheep in Western Australia Biosecurity & Agriculture Management (Identification & Movement of Stock & Apiaries) Regulations 2013 National Livestock Identification System for Sheep March 2015 Jacquie Pearson

Overview Background (history and recent review) Sheep help desk pilot project – aims and objectives Identification and movement NLIS database Questions and answers

National review of sheep and goat NLIS in 2014 by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) States to enhance the current system of mob based movement requires increased compliance with recording on the NLIS database or States to implement electronic identification (EID) of sheep (Victoria support) Review in 4-5 years to determine if State’s are achieving appropriate traceability standards

Royalties for Regions funded sheep traceability activity 3 year pilot sheep and goat NLIS helpdesk to improve WA’s traceability Established in December 2014 Phone and support to producers, agents, other stakeholders One stop shop for sheep identification and NLIS questions

NLIS for sheep was introduced nationally in 2010 Better traceability for disease outbreaks Better traceability for food safety (residue detection) Better biosecurity outcomes For each movement in the supply chain e.g. farm to saleyard, farm to agistment Record of movement is uploaded into the NLIS database as a mob based movement average of sheep movements in WA daily

Three (3) steps to sheep traceability

Identification

Movement

Recording of movements on NLIS database

NLIS database – responsibilities? Private sales- New owner to ensure movement is recorded on database (even if agent involved) Saleyards Saleyard/agent to record movements from vendor PIC to saleyard to buyer PIC Movements between an owner’s own PICs – Owner must ensure its is done.

NLIS database Administered by NLIS Ltd, part of Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) Utilised by the sheep, goat and cattle industry to comply with each states’ legislation and regulations

NLIS database – How? Requires an NLIS database account. Accounts for producer, agent, saleyard etc Ask your agent Ask a third party e.g. telecentre

Sheep – NLIS database All movements of mobs of sheep between different PICs must be recorded on the NLIS database. within 48 hours of arrival