Monitoring disease through eNVDs

When New South Wales sheep producer Stan Moore first used the electronic National Vendor Declaration (eNVD), he was hesitant, and happy to stay with the traditional paper method. But after making the swap, he says he is sold on the platform, particularly for the benefits it provides in easily accessing the health status of a flock.

Stan owns ‘Gundillawah Park’, focusing on sheepmeat, wool and ewe production with his flock of 500 Merinos and crossbreeds. His business is accredited through Livestock Production Assurance (LPA), and Flockcare within the LPA Quality Assurance program (LPA QA).

“I found that initially using the eNVD was hard because I’m used to the old paper NVDs. It was just how we always operated. However, having tried the eNVD, I’m sold on it. I hardly ever use a paper NVD for my own work because the eNVD is quite simple,” Stan said.

The eNVD is the faster, easier way for producers to complete consignments. It saves time by:

• Avoiding duplication and answering questions once to fill out all forms.
• Ensuring forms are securely stored and always available online.
• Setting up templates to pre-populate regular consignments.

Stan, who periodically works as a stock transporter, knows eNVDs and NVDs are an important factor for traceability and health from both a producer and transporter perspective.

He said that ensuring his transferred stock has been accurately recorded for any health issues was vital. This particularly assures his customers that his products were suitable for consumption, while simultaneously achieving a premium sale price.

“The health information is very important as a producer. Any stock I buy in, I like to know its history but also those who purchase my stock should know the history as well. That’s part of the quality assurance that industry is undertaking.”

“Through our LPA and MSA accreditations, we look closely at biosecurity. We will look at the health reports or we’ll check what has happened to the stock on the NVD. Importantly, you can see whether they have been owned previously or whether the vendor was the owner themselves,” Stan said.

“I think the important thing for traceability is that, should we ever have a major disease outbreak, I don’t want that anywhere near my breeders and the last thing we want is that happening to the whole meat sector.”

By becoming LPA-accredited, producers are ensuring that, as an industry, we can stand by what we sell through documenting all livestock movements, treatments and property risks. This includes using NVDs to communicate the food safety and treatment status of every animal as it moves through the value chain. It is important to remember that not all processors will accept livestock without LPA-accreditation.

Livestock transfers from one Property Identification Code (PIC) to another must also be recorded in the NLIS database and be accompanied by a completed NVD. Failure to do so can result in loss of an animal’s lifetime traceability. Without knowing the correct owner or PIC, processors cannot confirm the health status of livestock, which can lead to a refusal of sale.

eNVDs and NVDs communicate the food safety and treatment status of every animal through the value chain and help to protect our industry from disease outbreak, contamination and ensure animals retain lifetime traceability. With these documents and a commitment to integrity, producers can ensure the safety of their livestock, success of their business and the integrity of our red meat industry.