NSW Farmers set target for EID

The state’s peak agricultural body says mandatory electronic identifcation tags for sheep should cost no more than $1 per tag, setting a clear target for state and federal governments.

Last year Australia’s agriculture ministers agreed to mandate the use of electronic identifcation under the national traceability system for sheep and goats. But almost 12 months later, farmers were still worried about how much the scheme might cost their businesses, and made it clear there must be fnancial support to implement traceability reform.

NSW Farmers had agreed to policy providing in-principle support for the national traceability scheme after it was mandated by the previous government, President Xavier Martin said, but there was a need to set a maximum cost amid growing angst from producers.

“Farmers are rightly becoming increasingly concerned about the costs associated with implementing eID for sheep and goats, following the previous government’s mandating of the traceability system last year,” Mr Martin said.

“Since the former government’s announcement of mandated electronic identifcation for sheep and goats in July 2022,

“Where once there were many businesses in the food sector, the level of market concentration we see today has led to incredible power imbalances that are driving up the cost of food for consumers.”

Farmers had campaigned long and hard for fairness in the market, Mr Lowe said, and while the voluntary Food and Grocery Code was supposed to improve the behaviour of retailers and wholesalers towards suppliers, it had been found by the Australian Competition and we have been clear that there must be suffcient fnancial support made available for producers of these livestock.

“Our Executive Council has looked at what other state governments are providing their producers and calculated a maximum price of $1 per tag is reasonable for the NSW Government to support given biosecurity benefts everyone, not just producers.”

The offcial position of NSW Farmers on the national traceability reform for sheep and goats clearly articulated the Association’s inprinciple support for the move to mandatory eID was conditional on several factors, including:

• Tag costs were reduced to an economically affordable level,

• Farmers and the supply chain were provided fnancial assistance to

Consumer Commission to have “signifcant shortcomings”.

“Implementing recommendations from the ACCC’s 2020 Perishable Agricultural Goods Inquiry would be an excellent starting point to bring food prices down for consumers,” Mr Lowe said.

“The entire reason the ACCC came to be in the frst place was to protect the consumer, and it’s about time these recommendations were taken seriously.

“If the federal government is serious about tackling some of the cost-of-living problems facing Australian families in next week’s budget, then it needs to listen to the expert advice of the nation’s competition watchdog and make our markets fairer for everyone.”

Among the ACCC recommendations NSW Farmers wanted to see implemented were:

• Making the Food and Grocery Code mandatory with civil penalties for breaches

• An economy-wide prohibition on unfair trading practices

• An overhaul of the current merger and acquisition approval process invest in technology, and

There also needs to be an analysis of supply chain profts, with a focus on markups and price gouging.

• The transition was underpinned by an equitable funding arrangement across the supply chain.

Mr Martin said with state and federal governments mandating a more expensive system, there needed to be fnancial assistance on the table, and the

$1 price tag was in line with other states.

“Farmers need support in reducing the cost of accredited eID National Livestock Identifcation System devices, including ear tags and similar identifcation technology, under this reform,” Mr Martin said.

“The last thing we want to see is a signifcant cost burden borne by producers who are now required to transition to using eID by government.

“NSW Farmers is determined to secure fnancial assistance for farmers and the supply chain to invest in technology; to retain tag free pathways, and ensure the system be developed in consultation with producers.”