The red meat integrity system includes food safety measures, quality assurance and traceability from paddock to plate.
Since dairy cattle are often part of the red meat supply chain, dairy farmers are encouraged to maintain LPA accreditation.
Integrity Systems Company (ISC) is responsible for managing and delivering the core elements which make up Australia’s red meat integrity system.
LPA is the Australian livestock industry’s on-farm assurance program, covering food safety, animal welfare and biosecurity. LPA provides evidence of how you manage your farm and animals and transfers this evidence along the value chain as livestock are bought and sold – from producers to processors and, eventually, our customers.
Access this page to find out more about the LPA program and how to meet LPA requirements, create farm records and LPA NVDs.
NLIS is Australia’s system for the identification and traceability of cattle, sheep and goats.
NLIS combines three elements to enable the lifetime traceability of animals:
- Livestock identified by a visual or electronic eartag/device
- Physical locations identified by a Property Identification Code (PIC)
- Livestock location data and movements recorded in a central database
Learn more about NLIS and understand your responsibilities.
An LPA National Vendor Declaration (NVD) is a legal document that guarantees on-farm practices meet LPA requirements for food safety, animal welfare and biosecurity. LPA NVDs are required for all livestock movements, including property to property, through saleyards, direct to processors and feedlots, and to the live export trade.
Property Identification Codes (PICs), which every livestock producing property must have to be registered with LPA or NLIS.
Accurate records and systems are the foundation of the red meat integrity system. Producers need to keep records to demonstrate compliance with all integrity system requirements, including to support claims made on an LPA NVD. If you are selected for an LPA audit, your records will be reviewed by an auditor so it is important to make sure they are accurate and up-to-date.
ISC has a number of free templates you can download from the website or order via your LPA account. You can upload your documents to your LPA account for safe keeping. Property risk assessments and biosecurity plans can also be completed online.
As dairy cattle are part of the red meat supply chain, dairy farmers are encouraged to maintain LPA accreditation. To access LPA NVDs for their livestock, dairy farmers must be LPA accredited.
To gain LPA accreditation for the first time, dairy farmers need to register their dairy licence number via the LPA Service Centre. They are not required to complete the LPA Learning modules or pay the LPA accreditation fee which are requirements for other cattle producers.
When seeking or renewing accreditation via the LPA Service Centre, dairy farmers should select ‘Dairy’ as their enterprise type and input their dairy licence number This will ensure that the farm practices implemented under their Dairy QA program are recognised by LPA and allow exemption from the LPA random audit program.
If dairy farmers are already LPA accredited, renewal is required every three years. They will be prompted to renew their accreditation by LPA approximately two months before the renewal date.
You can register your dairy licence number in myMLA.
myMLA is the gateway to accessing a range of MLA products and services including LPA. It provides a single sign-on facility to your NLIS, LPA, Meat Standards Australia and Livestock Data Link accounts – which means you only need to remember one username and password. Find out how to sign up to myMLA.
You must have a myMLA account to complete your LPA accreditation or access NVDs/eNVDs in your LPA account.
The seven requirements of the LPA program cover:
Biosecurity relates to measures taken to reduce risk of infectious diseases, invasive pests or weeds. Under LPA, producers must have a Farm Biosecurity Plan. There are 17 priority diseases for cattle. Cattle tick has the highest estimated economic impact in the north ($156 million) while internal parasites has the highest impact in the south ($82 million).
Dairy farmers must be able to demonstrate that on-farm systems have been implemented to ensure handling of livestock is consistent with the requirements of the Australian Animal Welfare Standards & Guidelines for Cattle.
Details on how to meet each requirement.
More information on tagging requirements.
All animals leaving a PIC, or property, must be identified with an NLIS-accredited device before they are moved, unless your state department of agriculture grants you an exemption or permit:
More information on tagging requirements
When livestock are physically moved, a transfer must be completed on the NLIS database. This means the animal’s NLIS device number is transferred from one PIC to another PIC to reflect its physical location.
There are two types of transfer – movements of animals which are identified individually with RFID electronic eartags. This is for sheep and goats in Victoria and all cattle across Australia. The second is mob-based movements for sheep or goats which have a visual tag. Sheep and goats in all states, except Victoria, can complete both types of transfer depending on the type of tags they use on-farm.
All producers need an NLIS account because you are responsible for livestock on your property. NLIS livestock transactions and movements are included in an LPA audit.
The new eNVD mobile app allows you to transfer livestock easily, even when there is no internet at the yards.
Contact ISC Customer Service for more help with integrity at info@integritysystems.com.au or on 1800 683 111 between 8am and 7pm (AEDT), Monday to Friday.
Be sure to sign up to ISC’s monthly newsletter, Integrity Matters, for practical help and information on LPA, NLIS, NVDs and more. You can also follow ISC’s Twitter account and Facebook page for additional news and updates on integrity, or visit ISC’s Tools and Resources page to access a large range of practical tools and how-to guides to provide further assistance with integrity programs.
