Agriculture Victoria has put in place an exemption to help Victorian producers impacted by fires move their livestock for sale or slaughter.
Acting Executive Director of Biosecurity, Sharyn Williams said under normal trading conditions livestock owners are required to correct identify cattle, sheep or goats with NLIS tags prior to them leaving their property.
“However, we understand that during emergencies like the recent fires animals might need to be moved urgently – for their own safety, or for sale, treatment or agistment.
“We have put in place an exemption for some livestock movement requirements for Property Identification Code (PIC) holders, within the Victorian fire affected areas,” she said.
Ms Williams said cattle, sheep or goats can be dispatched from a property without an NLIS tag, but the movement must happen with a completed vendor declaration and Agriculture Victoria must be notified of the movement within seven days.
She said if this happens producers should contact the NLIS team.
A completed vendor declaration is also needed.
Ms Williams reminded producers that cattle, sheep or goats moved under emergency conditions must be correctly tagged (with a post-breeder tag) at the earliest opportunity after they have been moved.
“Emergency NLIS tags can be purchased by calling the Agriculture Victoria NLIS Helpline.
“Where animals are tagged, livestock owners are required to notify the NLIS database when they receive livestock from another property, including those arriving on agistment, and that the owner or manager receiving the livestock is responsible for completing the transfer,” she said.
