All AU Livestock to be Tagged

June 1, 2007 - Stock agents in Australia will refuse to buy any untagged sheep from sale yards, abattoirs or farms effective July 1. The no-tag-no-buy policy will apply to all animals, irrespective of age.

Under the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS), sheep born before 2006 can be sold without a year-of-birth tag. But Andy Madigan from the Australian Livestock and Property Agents Association said it is no longer willing to accommodate the exemptions.

"The processors tell us that what their customers want is traceability," he said. "So whatever their customers want is what they will buy to keep those markets open. It is very simple; if we lose any of those markets, then we have got a flood of mutton or lamb on our market which drives the price down, so we need to increase our markets by NLIS being there. We believe that this will strengthen our markets and offer us the chance of maybe new markets."
Reprinted from ABC Rural Australia

<< Back