- Funding to kickstart introduction of electronic identification for sheep and goats in WA
- The technology will enable more effective tracing of animals for emergency response
The McGowan Government today announced $3.4 million to support the introduction of mandatory electronic identification (EID) for sheep and goats in Western Australia.
The funding will include new scanning infrastructure at saleyards and other key livestock congregation points and an electronic tag subsidy for producers.
It follows a virtual meeting of State, Territory, and Federal Agriculture Ministers yesterday, where they agreed to work towards the introduction of mandatory individual EID of sheep and goats in Australia by 1 January 2025.
EID allows for more efficient and accurate tracing of animals in the event of an emergency animal disease or food safety incident.
It also provides enhanced traceability, which supports access to valuable export markets.
EID is already used in the cattle industry in Australia.
As stated by Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan:
"Disease threats on our doorstep - such as foot-and-mouth disease - highlight the importance of digital traceability to rapidly respond to a disease incursion. Electronic tagging is a must in the 21st century, to better protect our producers and industry.
"WA's sheep industry is reliant on exports, so we must have modern traceability systems in place to support access, and help promote our world-class production systems to markets.
"The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development has been working with industry to understand the infrastructure requirements and technical aspects of moving to an electronic system, to ensure it is approached in a practical and efficient manner.
"This is an important investment to kickstart this process, and the McGowan Government will consider further funding to support the implementation of this new EID-based traceability system.
"WA is one of the first jurisdictions to have funding approved to kickstart this work, and we are confident we will receive mated funding from the Commonwealth."
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