What is traceability?
Traceability can be defined as:
The ability to follow the movement of a product though stages of production, processing, and distribution (ISO 22005:2007).
Why is it important?
Livestock traceability is a risk-management tool that plays an important role in protecting Tasmania's agricultural industry and natural resources. It provides valuable information for:
biosecurity – helping prevent, detect and respond to animal diseases
market access – demonstrating disease status, history, provenance, sustainability and responding to animal welfare
food safety – ensuring safe and reliable food chains
chemical residue management – enabling faster responses if residues are detected.
How does traceability work?
The Biosecurity (Livestock Traceability) Regulations 2024 (the Regulations) provide the process for traceability through the supply chain.
Livestock traceability is managed through the following processes:
Property Identificationon Code (PIC): The PIC is the first stage of the supply chain and identifies the location of premises where identifiable livestock are held.
Electronic Identification Devices (eID) & Tags: Before identifiable livestock leave a premises, they must be identified with an eID or visual tag determined by the age and species of livestock.
NLIS or PigPass: Movement information, including the PIC and eID/visual tag must be recorded on NLIS (sheep, goats and cattle) or PigPass (pigs). This provides traceability from premises to premises.
Movement Documents: A National Vendor Declaration (NVD) or other approved movement documents must be completed when identifiable livestock are moved. The movement information must be recorded on NLIS or PigPass within two days.
The supply chain
Livestock traceability allows for an animal to be traced from its place of birth across properties and other supply chain premises. This means that in the case of an emergency disease outbreak, food safety or chemical residue issue that an animal can quickly be identified so that emergency management strategies can occur to protect other livestock and the agricultural industry.
Everyone in the supply chain has an obligation to support and protect each other.
The supply chain includes:
owners
operators
livestock agents
transporters
depots
saleyards
processing operations
Biosecurity Fact Sheets provide information for each of stage of the supply chain.
Tasmanian Primary Produce Traceability Strategy
Tasmania has built a global reputation for producing safe, high-quality food and products. This reputation is supported by our strong biosecurity measures. As a result, we are largely pest and disease-free.
The Tasmanian Primary Produce Traceability Strategy was developed through extensive public consultation and consideration of national developments for the continued protection and reputation of the state’s producers and their products.
Implementation of the Strategy will help:
improve biosecurity management for more of Tasmania's primary produce
maintain and increase market access both domestically and internationally
standardisation of traceability data to improve consumer assurance
protect Tasmanian products from misuse of the Tasmanian brand
reduce food waste.
Tasmanian Primary Produce Traceability Strategy 2023-2028 (PDF 5Mb)
The National Strategy
The Tasmanian Primary Produce Traceability Strategy supports the National Agricultural Traceability Strategy 2023 to 2033.
There is increasing pressure from consumers and international trading partners for stronger and more transparent traceability systems across agricultural supply chains. These systems are important to protect and grow market access.
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry leads national traceability strategies to ensure Australia has a fit-for-purpose, nation-wide system that can respond to global trends and future needs.