News & Advice

NAIT- National Animal Identification and Tracing scheme

Aug 12, 2018 | Lifestyle Farmers

What is NAIT?

The NAIT scheme is an identification system that links people, property and livestock. It was developed to identify and trace livestock (cattle and deer) within New Zealand and can provide, fast, reliable and accurate information on stock location and movements. Anyone in charge of cattle or deer must comply with NAIT regulations- if you a person in charge of animals you must be registered with NAIT, have your animals tagged with NAIT approved RFID ear tags, register your animals in the NAIT system, and record and confirm any animal movements.

Why is it important?

NAIT was created is response to a need to improve consumer confidence, food traceability and disease management (As the recent Mycoplasma outbreak highlighted, animal movement around the country is paramount to our biosecurity).

What are your responsibilities?

  • Cattle and deer must have a NAIT approved tag in their ear within six months of birth or before moving off-farm, whichever is sooner.
  • Animals must be registered in the NAIT system within seven days of being tagged or before moving off-farm, whichever is sooner.
  • All animal movements must be recorded with NAIT, including confirming receiving movements within two days of the movement start or movement end date.
  • All animal deaths on-farm or missing animals must be recorded with NAIT within two days of occurring.

What are the consequences if not followed?

Under the NAIT act, you could be breaking the law if an inspector finds animals not tagged or tagged but not registered, if an animal is transported without record of movement, or an animal is missing without record.
While currently the approach to non-compliance has been educational, with the recent NAIT review MPI are looking to integrate NAIT inspections into their own inspections, so now is the time to make sure all your records are up to date.

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