COMPLIANCE to electronic ear tags has been recently highlighted with a Gippsland livestock agent and producer being convicted and fined $20,300 plus additional costs.
An agent at Pakenham pleaded guilty at Latrobe Valley Online Magistrates Court in March to charges including the use of disbanded property identification codes, failing to properly record livestock movement information, not keeping copies of National Vendor Declarations, and failing to produce documents.
Two other producers, one from Warragul and the other from Darnum, also pleaded guilty to charges relating to livestock traceability offences including misusing National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) ear tags and were fined $6300 plus costs and $7000 plus costs respectively.
The Australian Livestock and Property Agents Association, Australian Meat Industry Council and Australian Livestock Exporters Council submitted statements which highlighted how the defendants’ actions could cause ramifications across the entire livestock supply chain.
Outcross Agri Services, which manages WVLX at Mortlake, said whilst the case serves as a reminder of the importance of electronic identification, they were satisfied with their own operations.
“We’ve got rigorous systems at WVLX and all the other saleyards we work at,” managing director, Tom Newsome said.
“(We) ensure the integrity of the NLIS system as well as the other regulatory compliance systems that are used in our industry.
“We use best practice processes and software that ensures that all the checks and balances are in place so that if there's any issues or anomalies in the information that’s supporting the cattle sales, we’re able to find that information and resolve it before it becomes an issue.
“(We) ensure that the integrity of the industry is being supported by the systems that we’ve got in place.”
Agriculture Victoria animal health and welfare program manager, Daniel Bode, said the prompt detection of the offending and thorough investigation run by the department has ensured potential risks to Victorian livestock and consumers were avoided.
Mr Bode said the outcome of the matters brought before the court served as a strong reminder that the Victorian community took biosecurity seriously.
“The vast majority of Victorian producers do an excellent job helping to ensure a strong biosecurity system is maintained,” he said.
“A strong biosecurity system not only protects our agriculture sector, but also our environment, biodiversity, cultural heritage, economy, and way of life.”
