Traceability In Sight
NEW ZEALAND - Animal traceability on a world scale is the ultimate aim, but in the meantime, New Zealand farmers are still waiting to hear exactly how it will work, and what system will be used here.
1 November 2007
1 minute read
| ILC's Craig Purcell demonstrated the Alfex tag reader wand. The ILC version is the yellow wand shown on the poster. The paper ear shows the position for the tag. |
A single, universal livestock identification system is the aim of National Animal Identification and Traceability (NAIT), a joint government/ industry project to enhance animal identification and traceability.
The system will require individual identification of cattle and deer in the first instance, with other farmed animals coming into line later.
The objective is to enable full traceability of our livestock as part of a biosecurity management plan and to preserve access to overseas markets where full traceability is increasingly expected.
Initially it was intended that the system would be mandatory for cattle and deer by 2008, but deciding on a suitable system is taking longer than first anticipated.
It now looks as if it will be 2009.
Brendan Malley, who is employed by the consortium to facilitate the design of the NAIT system, describes the timetable for building the NAIT database is "a bit of a moving target" until overall project funding can be arranged.
