Twyford Phil: National Animal Identification and Tracing Bill — Second Reading 
Twyford Phil: National Animal Identification and Tracing Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:675;Page:21007] 
PHIL TWYFORD (Labour) 
: 
 The National Animal Identification and Tracing Bill is such a sensible bill that is has united all the parties in the House. It has even united the carnivores and the vegetarians so it was interesting to hear Gareth Hughes one of the few vegetarians in the House speaking on a bill about tracking animal livestock. I was on a podium the other day with Gareth Hughes. When one is on a podium with a member of the Green Party one always worries because one always knows that those members will “out - moral high ground” one. Gareth Hughes and I were speaking before an audience of rabid vegans and it was very reassuring to see that even he could not please the demands of the rabid vegans. 
Labour supports this bill. It makes complete sense. It is a valuable contribution to the infrastructure that supports our livestock industry and it gives confidence to export markets that the animals that are raised in New Zealand are raised according to the strictest standards of health and animal welfare. 
This bill is the first step in a system that will deliver traceability for our livestock industries and that is a standard that we need to meet for the sake of keeping confidence in our agricultural exports. As Iain Lees-Galloway was saying before it really raises the prospect of traceability from the farm gate to the plate. Increasingly socially and environmentally conscious consumers around the world are demanding that traceability. They want to know not only what country their piece of beef lamb or venison came from but also what part of the country it came from what farm it came from what conditions it was raised under and what its pedigree or genetic background is. That is something we will have to seriously consider. 
The National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) system this bill establishes—a system that was devised and planned under the last Labour Government and is being continued under this National-led Government—really provides the platform for that traceability to be put in place. Labour supports the bill. It will ensure that a quick and efficient response is possible when we face a situation—and let us hope we do not face another one—like the hoax foot-and-mouth outbreak that occurred on Waiheke Island a few years ago. 
Gareth Hughes talked about the mad cow disease outbreak in Britain and the enormous cost to Britain’s agricultural industries. The traceability that the NAIT system allows for tracing individual livestock back to the farms they have come from will allow a quick and efficient response in that kind of crisis situation. It will help maintain the confidence of the export markets in the safety and disease-free status of New Zealand’s livestock industry. 
We support this bill. It will commit an implementation plan as well as the funding to cover all the capital set-up costs. The implementation itself is necessary to demonstrate that New Zealand continues to be one of the leading producers of high-quality high-value safe food. Consumers want to know where their food is coming from—not only what country but also what farm and even what part of that farm the animal comes from. 
Some meat companies in New Zealand already have their own traceability systems set up and are quite far down the track of delivering traceability but this system will lay the platform for the whole industry. As previous speakers have noted venison and cattle will be the first to be included but it is expected that pork and sheep will follow. 
We appreciate the concerns that farmers raised at the Primary Production Committee. Those concerns have been incorporated and Labour is very happy to support this bill. I will not say any more because I want to hear the valedictory statement of my colleague Chris Carter. 
Debate interrupted.