All sheep and non-exempt goats are now expected to be tagged with an NLIS electronic tag before leaving a Victorian property.
Victoria’s chief veterinary officer Graeme Cooke said electronic tags provided accurate tracking for sheep or goats from property of birth through to export or processing.
“This system provides assurances to our export and domestic markets that we can quickly trace animals in the event of a disease outbreak or food safety issue,” he said.
“It gives Victorian producers a significant advantage and added industry protection.”
Electronic identification was first introduced to Victorian sheep and goat farmers in 2017. Since then producers have purchased more than 51 million electronic NLIS (sheep) tags, and almost 35 million sheep and goat movements have been recorded on the NLIS database.
Since January 1, there has also been changes to the duty paid when sheep and goats are traded, with the duty price rising to 27c per head.
Duty payments are collected into the Sheep and Goat Compensation Fund, which gets reinvested into the industry through the Livestock Biosecurity Funds grants program. The increase enables the compensation fund to grow its investment into important projects for the benefit of the sheep and goat industries and improve Victoria’s biosecurity.
See the Agriculture Victoria website for more information on the duty paid or to order NLIS tags.