Farmers urged to have say on NAIT

Federated Farmers is in synch with the Government’s determination to revamp NAIT into a more effective and easy-touse system, and urges farmers to speak up on the changes they want to see.

“The launch this morning of a new round of consultation on improvements to the National Animal Identification and Tracing Scheme is a vital step in streamlining and futureproofing this tool,” Feds President Katie Milne says.

Good progress has been made getting on with some of the 37 recommendations in the NAIT Review released earlier this year.

“Now we have another chance to further hone the scheme into the effective farming, traceability and biosecurity tool we need it to be. Farmers — the people who use NAIT every day — have a huge stake in this and will no doubt have ideas on how to make NAIT more fit for purpose.

“The M. bovis outbreak has underscored for us why we need to get this right and Federated Farmers will certainly seize this chance for input,” says Katie.

Included in the consultation are questions that go further than the NAIT Review, including the role of animal transporters, issues around stock agents and potentially bringing other species under the scheme.

■ Submissions close on December 19. Further information, including the consultation document and submission form, is available from mpi.govt.nz/ NAITconsultation