Fewer infringements and prosecutions for farmers failing to track livestock

 
Enforcement action against farmers breaching livestock tracing rules is declining, figures from the Ministry for Primary Industries show.
“This is due to an increase in animals being registered, as well as lower levels of offending by those who have previously reoffended,” says Glen Burrell, MPI’s director of compliance and response.
When Mycoplasma bovis – a cattle pathogen that can cause serious disease – emerged in 2017, it highlighted huge issues with the National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) programme.
“This undoubtedly resulted in a more challenging and costly response,” says distinguished professor Philip Hume, of Lincoln University. (In 2018, the projected cost of the 10-year eradication programme was $870 million – that has now been revised to $898m.)
There are no active confirmed properties with M. bovis. Hume says this is testament to a significant improvement in NAIT.
Burrell, of MPI, says: “A focus on better NAIT compliance and more farmers properly using the system has helped the eradication of M. bovis over time.”
Industry group Federated Farmers puts at least some of the decline in enforcement action down to the positive behaviour of farmers but environmental group Greenpeace remains unconvinced, saying authorities treat the dairy industry as a “sacred cow”.
Figures released to Newsroom by MPI under official information legislation show successful prosecutions peaked in 2022, with 16. The figures, released last month, showed there were four sentencings so far this year.
Canterbury’s Keith and Joel Townshend – father and son cattle farmers who have properties in Ashburton, Banks Peninsula, and coastal Wakanui – were, in the Ashburton District Court in May, fined $47,500 for failing to register animal movements with NAIT.
In 2022, Keith Townshend failed to declare the movements of 1832 cattle. “Mr Townshend had been educated on NAIT requirements in 2021,” an MPI press statement said.
Joel Townshend, meanwhile, was found with 1154 unregistered cattle, and didn’t register himself as a person in charge of animals.
“The NAIT tag and registration system is only as effective as the information entered in,” said Murray Pridham, MPI’s regional manager of animal welfare and NAIT compliance. “When people in charge of animals disregard their NAIT obligations they put the whole agricultural sector at risk”.
The number of NAIT infringement notices peaked in the 2021/22 financial year at 1897 – 95 percent of which were for not registering animals. There were only 1108 notices issued last year.
The picture is more mixed for written warnings. They peaked in 2020/21 at 2788, but have bobbled around since. There were 2178 warnings issued in the last financial year.
Hume, of Lincoln University, is deputy director of Bioprotection Aotearoa. He says the jump in enforcement actions after M. bovis arrived in New Zealand reflected a tougher stance over NAIT. “There are still individuals who don’t comply but this is true of most regulatory environments.”
Federated Farmers’ meat and wool chair Toby Williams says M. bovis was a wake-up call for farmers and the government. “Everyone has really lifted their game when it comes to biosecurity. In recent years we’ve seen increased enforcement from government, but there’s also been a lot of positive behaviour change from farmers.” 
The decrease in warnings and infringements is positive, he says.
“Of course, the system could always be better,” Williams says. “NAIT is over a decade old now and technology has continued to develop.
“Farmers expect to see continued improvements to the system that will improve the customer experience and make things more user friendly.”
Greenpeace spokesperson Sinéad Deighton-O’Flynn says the information released by MPI shows “the extent to which the Government is willing to go to protect the dairy industry”.
“If only they would put as much importance on protecting lakes, rivers and rural drinking water, preventing climate change and transitioning New Zealand’s food production away from meat and dairy.
“The number of compliance issues associated with the NAIT programme also highlights the unwillingness of the dairy industry to follow any rules whatsoever, even those that have been designed to protect it from diseases like M. bovis.
“It’s time that this Government stopped treating the dairy industry as a sacred cow and started doing more to protect the rest of us from ongoing dairy pollution.”
While MPI regulates NAIT, disease control and on-farm operations shifted from MPI to Operational Solutions for Primary Industries late last year. NAIT breaches are governed by a graduated enforcement model known as VADE – voluntary, assisted, directed, and enforced.
Burrell, of MPI, says: “OSPRI and NAIT officers utilise different aspects of the VADE model which typically involves them working with the affected parties, by way of discussion or written material, to assist them to understand the requirements of the NAIT scheme. This educative and advisory function is designed to ensure sustained behavioural change and enhanced compliance rates.
“If directed and enforced aspects of the VADE model are required, warning notices or infringement fines could be issued to change behaviour. Court proceedings are used with more serious non-compliant NAIT activity or if the previous interventions have not resulted in significant change in behaviour by the person in charge of animals.”
The number of NAIT officers throughout New Zealand has, like enforcement action, peaked and decreased. There were 12 NAIT officers in 2018/19, rising to 48 in 2021/22. In the last financial year there were 39 full-time equivalent roles.
While MPI announced in May it was cutting 391 roles – about 10 percent of its workforce – the NAIT team emerged unscathed.
“We can confirm that there is no change to the 2023/24 staffing level of NAIT officers,” Burrell says.
Two weeks ago there were four vacancies, three for NAIT officers and one analyst role.
“These are all being filled and are at various stages of recruitment, including one which is about to be completed.”