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). If animals are identified with a visual tag, the traceability system is mob-based. If animals are identified with an RFID tag, and the tag numbers are supplied to the NLIS database when a movement is recorded, they can be traced individually.  

Mob-based movement recording

To enhance the NLIS system, recording the movement of mobs of sheep or goats between properties on the NLIS database commenced from July 2010.

Producers can download information sheets for each state:

• National requirements
• New South Wales - required since 1 July 2010
• South Australia - required since 1 July 2010
• Western Australia - required since July 2011
• Queensland - currently voluntary
• Victoria - currently voluntary

Individual animal movement recording

Since July 2011, the NLIS database has enabled movement details for individual animals identified with RFID tags to be recorded, on a voluntary basis.

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), to show where they are going.
• Recording a mob-based or individual movement on the NLIS database.

NLIS and meat safety

For mob-based movements, as the animals move along the supply chain, movement details are 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.

For animals identified with RFID tags, 'statuses' can be recorded, for example, lost animal, damaged or inactive tag etc. When the animals leave the property of birth and their movements along the supply chain are recorded on the database, a life history can be established. This strengthens the traceability system.

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