Last year Australia’s agriculture ministers agreed to mandate the use of electronic identification under the national traceability system for sheep and goats.
But almost 12 months later, farmers were still worried about how much the scheme might cost their businesses, and made it clear there must be financial support to implement traceability reform.
NSW Farmers had agreed to policy providing in-principle support for the national traceability scheme after it was mandated by the previous government, president Xavier Martin said, but there was a need to set a maximum cost amid growing angst from producers.
“Since the former government’s announcement of mandated electronic identification for sheep and goats in July 2022, we have been clear that there must be sufficient financial support made available for producers of these livestock,” Mr Martin said.
“Our Executive Council has looked at what other state governments are providing their producers and calculated a maximum price of $1 per tag is reasonable for the NSW Government to support given biosecurity benefits everyone, not just producers.”
The official position of NSW Farmers on the national traceability reform for sheep and goats clearly articulated the association’s in-principle support for the move to mandatory eID was conditional on several factors, including:
- tag costs were reduced to an economically affordable level;
- farmers and the supply chain were provided financial assistance to invest in technology; and
- the transition was underpinned by an equitable funding arrangement across the supply chain.
Mr Martin said with state and federal governments mandating a more expensive system, there needed to be financial assistance on the table, and the $1 price tag was in line with other states.
8°C