Wednesday, 10 November 2021 11:55

Hefty fines for failure to register NAIT animals

Written by 
MPI says it's critical that people in charge of NAIT animals register them in the system. MPI says it's critical that people in charge of NAIT animals register them in the system.

A Dargaville farmer who failed to register 500 animals under the National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) scheme has been fined $14,000.

Cameron Lloyd Banicevih (46), who runs beef and dairy herds, was sentenced in a reserved decision at the Dargaville District Court last month on one charge under the NAIT Act following an MPI prosecution. The Court released the decision last week.

Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) regional manager animal welfare and NAIT compliance, Brendon Mikkelsen, says it is critical that people in charge of NAIT animals register them in the system.

"Just putting NAIT tags on the animals is not enough. We take the situation very seriously.

"Our ability to track and trace cattle and deer through the NAIT system is a critical factor in managing biosecurity threats which could have a devastating impact on New Zealand's agricultural sector."

In December 2019, the Government increased the penalty for failing to register NAIT animals tenfold, meaning the maximum fine was increased from $10,000 to $100,000.

In July 2020 Baicevich receive dan infringement notice for not registering 68 animals.

By August, he had been contacted by a NAIT officer and a that stage had only one animal registered. Following an on-farm census, he had registered 729 animals by the end of September.

Meanwhile, another Dargaville farmer was also sentenced earlier this month for not registering 386 cattle under the NAIT Act. Beef farmer Athol Ross Freidrich (63) was fined $8,550 in the Dargaville District Court, after earlier pleading guilty to three charges under the NAIT Act. The court released the decision last week.

Despite being reminded of his obligations under the NAIT system and being sent educational material, MPI found that between 5 August, 2019 and 21 February 2020, 386 unregistered cattle had been moved to meat processing facilities, sale yards and private NAIT locations.

"People in charge of NAIT animals need to understand that placing a NAIT tag on an animal is only half the job. The other half is the linking of the individual animal to their tag by registering them into the NAIT system. If this is not done the management of biosecurity threats such as M. bovis, through the tracing of animals movements, is compromised," Mikkelsen says.

More like this

Editorial: Agri's mojo is back

OPINION: Good times are coming back for the primary industries. From sentiment expressed at Fieldays to the latest rural confidence survey results, all indicate farmer confidence at a near-record high.

MPI: Primary sector exports hit record $60B

A blockbuster year and an exciting performance: that's how Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) Director General, Ray Smith is describing the massive upsurge in the fortunes of the primary sector exports for the year ended June 2025.

Controls lifted at poultry farm

Movement controls have been lifted from Mainland Poultry’s Hillgrove Farm in Otago, after the successful eradication of H7N6 strain of high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).

Featured

Horticulture exports hit $8.4B, surge toward $10B by 2029

A brilliant result and great news for growers and regional economies. That's how horticulture sector leaders are describing the news that sector exports for the year ended June 30 will reach $8.4 billion - an increase of 19% on last year and is forecast to hit close to $10 billion in 2029.

National

Machinery & Products

Farming smarter with technology

The National Fieldays is an annual fixture in the farming calendar: it draws in thousands of farmers, contractors, and industry…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

110,000 visitors!

OPINION: It's official, Fieldays 2025 clocked 110,000 visitors over the four days.

Sticky situation

OPINION: The Federated Farmers rural advocacy hub at Fieldays has been touted as a great success.

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter