Indications from one of New Zealand’s key export markets could see sheep included in the National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) scheme sooner rather than later.

George Lyon, a Member of European Parliament for Scotland, has called on the European Commission to make it compulsory for countries from outside the EU to meet the same traceability standards as EU member states before imports are allowed.

Lyon says he wants the Commission to protect consumers and farmers from the threat of diseases, such as Foot and Mouth, by requiring non-EU states to enforce the same level of traceability as will be required across the EU when its electronic identification (EID) comes into effect early next year.

‘As of next year sheep farmers across Europe will be required to adhere to strict traceability rules. It is only fair that imports from other countries be required to meet the same standards.

‘The protection of our sheep farming industry must be paramount. I don’t want all the hard work that has been done in stamping out diseases, such as Foot and Mouth, to go to waste because other producers can use their own rules while profiting from our market.’

‘The Commission must make it plain to countries who wish to export to the EU that high standards of traceability must be met.’

NAIT chairman Ian Corney says whether New Zealand farmers like it or not, this sort of message is only going to get louder.

‘We can’t afford to ignore it,’ he says.

Corney came away from a conference in Buenos Aires earlier this year after hearing that many importers of New Zealand exports are embracing traceability and ‘it’s only a matter of time’ before others follow.

He says while the NAIT database has been developed to cover only cattle and deer in the first instance, it’s been set up in a way that will enable sheep to be added in the future, should the need arise. ‘But no work has been done on sheep by NAIT at this stage.’

Agriculture Minister David Carter is not surprised at Lyon’s stance.

‘There was an air of inevitability about it. On my recent trip to South America I discovered that Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina have all moved towards the individual identification of cattle.

‘I’m in no doubt that we are falling behind other countries in this area. We are in danger of finding ourselves exposed and rejected from our key export markets.’

Carter says he is waiting on the final deliberations of NAIT’s second business case before it goes before Cabinet. It is due by early December.

Meat & Wool New Zealand European manager Anne Berryman says there is no scientific reason for New Zealand to have EID forced on it. She says there is a system in place that allows sheepmeat to be traced back to its farm of origin.