Eight face cattle charges

Eight people are facing a total of 159 offences relating to the alleged misuse of cattle ear tags and livestock traceability offences.

An Agriculture Victoria investigation lasting more than 12 months and involving raids on West Gippsland properties in 2019 culminated in charges being laid against eight accused.

Agriculture Victoria confirmed the 159 charges were for offences under the Livestock Disease Act and its regulations.

The investigation largely surrounded alleged breaches of the National Livestock Identification Scheme (NLIS) and involved links to several West Gippsland properties.

Agriculture Victoria confirmed the cases were listed separately for hearings at the Latrobe Valley, Dandenong and Ringwood Magistrates’ Courts.

Four of the accused were listed for mention hearings at Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court on Friday. All four hearings were adjourned until April 28.

The Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions (DJPR) is listed as the prosecuting agency.

An Agriculture Victoria spokesperson said last week livestock traceability was a key pillar of Victoria’s strong biosecurity system.

“Everyone in the supply chain has a responsibility to ensure livestock are correctly tagged, livestock movements are accurately recorded, and paperwork completed correctly when livestock are moved,” the spokesperson said.

In December 2019, The Gazette reported the investigation was linked to millions of dollars worth of export cattle sales and allegations of falsified paperwork and ear tags were tampered with.

The NLIS is Australia’s system for the identification and traceability of cattle, sheep and goats. Producers are required to identify livestock with NLIS tags, conduct livestock movement transfer on the NLIS database when livestock move and ensure an accurate and complete National Vendor Declaration is completed when livestock move off their property.

The maximum penalty for NLIS offences is 60 penalty units which equates to $9913 per offence.

Charges laid under the Livestock Disease Control Act 1994 can be per offence for each individual animal or a group of the same offences may be rolled into a single charge.