Our friends at OSPRI do a fantastic job tracking and managing diseases that harm New Zealand’s livestock, through the NAIT and TBfree programmes.

As a trader of livestock, there are a number of obligations under the Biosecurity Act 1993 and the National Animal Identification & Tracing Act 2012 when it comes to selling livestock.

It involves a fair bit more than just making a Trade Me auction! So we’ve worked with OSPRI to get you the information you need to stay above board.

If you’re keen to learn more, or if you just need a refresher, you’ve come to the right place.

Without further ado, here are some words from OSPRI:

OSPRI is a partnership between primary industries and the government, and manages two national programmes – NAIT and TBfree.

NAIT provides the national animal identification and traceability system and TBfree manages the TBFree Programme that aims to eradicate bovine tuberculosis from New Zealand.

Animal identification and traceability are really important for responding to animal diseases. Accurate traceability records mean we can quickly identify at-risk herds and animals, and respond rapidly and efficiently to diseases like bovine TB. You can find out more about our TBfree program here.

Another example of an animal disease response is the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. This outbreak demonstrated how important NAIT is. Where good records were kept, the tracing of animals was much faster and easier, benefiting the response and the affected farmers.

Farmers in day-to-day charge of farmed cattle and deer have an important role to play in animal traceability.

They must:

Register your herd with NAIT