NLIS sheep & goats

Sheep and goat identification and traceability

Sheep and managed goats must be identified with an NLIS (Sheep) visual or RFID ear tag before they leave the property on which they were born (exemptions may apply for dairy, show and feral or unmanaged goats in some states). Although each animal is identified with a tag, the traceability system is mob-based.

Mob-based movement recording

To enhance the NLIS system, the recording of the movement of mobs of sheep or goats between properties on the NLIS database is being progressively rolled out across all states from 1 July 2010.

Producers can download information sheets for each state:

• National requirements 
• New South Wales - required from 1 July 2010
• South Australia - required from 1 July 2010
• Western Australia - currently voluntary, to become compulsory in 2011
• Queensland - currently voluntary
• Victoria - currently voluntary

For more information, contact your local state department of primary industries or agriculture

NLIS requirements

Producers should know where the sheep or goats under their management have come from and where they are going when they leave their property. This means:

• Approved NLIS (Sheep) ear tags for sheep and goats leaving their property to show where they have come from.
• Accurate transportation documentation, generally the Livestock Production Assurance National Vendor Declaration and Waybill (LPA NVD/Waybill) (link), to show where they are going.
• Recording a mob-based movement on the NLIS database.

NLIS and meat safety

The recording of mob-based movements is being implemented so that as the animals move along the supply chain movement details will be recorded on the database. The species and number of animals in each mob is recorded, together with the PICs and dates.

Each PIC a mob resides on is stored on the database and a history of the mob's residency, and the mobs it came into contact with, is established. This enables the mob to be traced quickly for the purposes of biosecurity, food safety, product integrity and market access.

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