After not registering 500 animals under the national tracing scheme, a Northland farmer has been fined $14,000.
Farmers are required to tag cattle and deer with National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) tags, and register them in the system.
Cameron Lloyd Banicevich, a Dargaville beef and dairy farmer, was sentenced on one charge under the Nait Act at the Dargaville District Court in October, following a prosecution by the Ministry of Primary Industries.
Banicevich received an infringement notice in July 2020 for not registering 68 animals. He was contacted by a NAIT officer in August, and at that stage had only one animal registered. By the end of September, he had registered 729 animals.
“Just putting NAIT tags on the animals is not enough. We take the situation very seriously,” said the ministry’s regional manager of animal welfare and NAIT compliance, Brendon Mikkelsen in a statement.
“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.”
