State legislation and requirements

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4.2 State legislation and requirements

With respect to movement of sheep from a property to the assembly feedlot, there must be compliance with state territory legislation and codes of practice concerning health, welfare and traceability of animals. The national Land Transport Standards have been approved by several states including WA and SA and it is understood that these states are currently preparing to develop regulations to allow full implementation of the national standards within state legislative frameworks. State inspectors may then be assessing animal welfare using a combination of current state legislation, regulations and codes of practice, as well as referencing the national standards. Officers from the relevant state departments DAFWA, PIRSA, DPI Victoria etc have responsibility for ensuring compliance with state legislation or codes concerning animal welfare, identification, traceability and transport of livestock within each state. There is some variation between states with respect to livestock requirements. All sheep in WA must be earmarked with the registered earmark for the property of birth by 6 months of age or before they leave the property, and they must have a visual NLIS eartag inserted. In WA, NLIS eartags are colour coded by year of birth in an 8-year repeating cycle 2009=white, 2010=orange, 2011=green, 2012=purple, and also must contain the NLIS logo and the registered brand for the owner. Sheep that are not on the property of birth purchased and moved to another property must have a pink post-breeder NLIS tag inserted that is imprinted with the new owner’s brand. All sheep that are being transported from one property to another in WA such as from property to the assembly feedlot, must travel with an NVDwaybill providing details of the ownervendor name, address of property, PIC, brand as well as information describing the destination and declarations concerning various treatments. Copies of the NVDwaybill are kept by the vendor, transporter and purchaser. In South Australia, there is no legislated requirement for sheep to be earmarked though some producers still do use earmarks. All sheep in SA must have a visual NLIS eartag inserted and SA uses the same colour coding scheme indicating year of birth and post-breeder tags as are used in WA. Sheep movements within SA must be accompanied by an NVDwaybill. In Victoria, sheep must be identified with either a visual or an electronic NLIS eartag. Visual tags are colour coded by year of birth using the same colour coding system but electronic tags are yellow. All sheep movements involving movement to a property or location with a different PIC must be accompanied by an NVDwaybill. In New South Wales, there is a general requirement for all sheep to be earmarked with a registered ear mark as in WA, and all sheep should have NLIS ear tags inserted before movements from one PIC to another. Page 17 of 136 NSW encourages but does not require the use of colour coded tags in accordance with the national standard for year of birth. Animal movements must be accompanied by an approved document NVD, transported stock statement or post-sale summary document. In Queensland, the use of ear marks and brands in sheep is not mandatory but where they are used they must be registered. All sheep should have NLIS ear tags inserted before movements from one PIC to another. QLD encourages but does not require the use of colour coded tags in accordance with the national standard for year of birth. Animal movements must be accompanied by an approved document NVD. There is generally a common requirement for all livestock movements to be registered on the NLIS movements database.

4.3 Australian Position Statement on the Export of Livestock