LIVESTOCK — EARMARKING AND BRANDING
608. Hon Dr STEVE THOMAS to the Minister for Agriculture and
Food:
I refer to the McGowan government's
decision to end compulsory earmarking and branding in 2022.
(1) By removing
permanent identifiers and relying solely on the national livestock
identification system to identify stock in Western Australia from 2022, what
assurances will the minister provide to producers that NLIS plastic tags will
not simply fall off, be removed or become defective?
(2) How will stock with lost tags be
managed?
(3) What effect
does the minister envisage the removal of permanent identifiers will have in
identifying cattle and sheep theft in Western Australia?
(4) Will
earmarking and branding be deemed optional or banned in Western Australia in
2022?
(5) Will the
minister guarantee there will be no risk to the supply chain by deregulating
the requirement for permanent identifiers?
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the member for the question.
(1) Permanent
identifiers are not being removed by the government; rather, regulatory
amendments are being prepared to make earmarking of sheep and earmarking and/or
branding of cattle optional and at the discretion of the producers.
(2) Lost or defective tags on property can be replaced
by the owner of the stock. Unidentified stock that are straying or at
large are subject to the regulatory provisions of local government. There are
provisions in the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management (Identification and
Movement of Stock and Apiaries) Regulations 2013 for unidentified stock
detected at saleyards or abattoirs.
(3) In other
jurisdictions that have already made earmarking and branding optional, it has
had limited to no impact on theft rates. However, if maintaining multiple forms
of identification is important to a livestock owner—be it to help with
easy visual identification of livestock, support proof of ownership, or to
discourage stock theft—they may continue to earmark sheep, and earmark
or brand cattle, and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional
Development will continue to maintain the register.
(4) Earmarking of
sheep and earmarking and/or branding of cattle will be optional from 1 January
2022.
(5) Finally—this is very important and I am
sure the member would understand this—branding and earmarking do
not provide supply chain assurances. There is no change to stock owners'
responsibility for assurances to manage the many risks posed to their stock in
the supply chain. The implementation of the national livestock identification
system has greatly improved the traceability of stock, which underpins industry
assurance programs such as Livestock Production Assurance, which is
administered by industry through the Integrity Systems Company.