Carter David: National Animal Identification and Tracing Bill — Second Reading 
Carter David: National Animal Identification and Tracing Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:675;Page:20996] 
Hon DAVID CARTER (Minister of Agriculture) 
: 
 I move  
That the National Animal Identification and Tracing Bill be now read a second time 
. The bill was referred to the Primary Production Committee in December 2010. The committee received 16 submissions on the bill and heard 10 oral submissions. The committee has done a thorough job in examining the bill and called for some additional information from expert witnesses before recommending that the bill be passed with some amendments. I thank the committee for its work and the notable cooperation from both sides of the House in reviewing this bill. I also take this opportunity of acknowledging the previous Government’s work in approving the early development of the National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) initiative. 
Before I outline those amendments I reiterate the need for this important bill. Agriculture is a key driver of our economic growth and it is critical that we maintain our reputation as a world leader in the production of top-quality animal products. To do this we must improve the information we hold on livestock including their life history and location so that we can give assurance to our trade partners that New Zealand product is healthy and disease-free. Such information will also enable us to better manage biosecurity responses. 
The NAIT scheme will support electronic recording of the locations of those animals—that is cattle and deer—of people in charge of animals and of the movement of animals between properties. The scheme will reduce our reliance on paper-based systems when decisions are needed quickly. Together with other non-regulatory information the scheme can support improved productivity and on-farm management. 
The committee has recommended a change to the commencement date of the bill as the scheme is now unable to meet the original time frame of November 2011. The new commencement date will give greater certainty to those who need to be ready for the NAIT scheme including farmers saleyards and processors. Some flexibility needs to be built into the bill to support different start dates for various obligations for farmers and for other participants in the scheme. The amendment sets 1 July 2012 as the mandatory date for the tagging of cattle with NAIT identification devices. Other obligations such as registering specific location and movement details in the system will become mandatory by no later than 1 November 2012. All obligations will apply to deer on 1 March 2013. Flexibility has been built into the legislation to bring these dates and provisions forward through an Order in Council. 
A number of submitters were concerned that the process for designating the new NAIT organisation—which will be responsible for running the NAIT system—was overly complex. They were also concerned that the process did not align with any merger of the functions of NAIT Ltd and the Animal Health Board into a single organisation by around 2013. The committee has recommended that the relevant clauses are redrafted so that NAIT Ltd will continue to run the scheme until any new entity can be put in place. 
The bill has been amended to provide more detail on matters the Minister must be satisfied about before approving the appointment of the NAIT organisation. These include the capacity of the organisation and its agreement to operate on a not-for-profit basis. A further amendment has been made to give the Minister flexibility to act where necessary to preserve the integrity of the NAIT scheme. 
Sections of the bill have also been amended so that consultation carried out before the bill’s enactment will be valid for the purposes of the Act recognising that much work around developing NAIT has taken place prior to the bill being passed. The committee has also recommended that we reduce unnecessary compliance costs by removing clause 32. That clause would require people moving a NAIT animal to make a statutory declaration as well as proving relevant information to the NAIT database. The committee felt that this additional compliance burden was unnecessary. 
Several submitters commented on clause 46 which sets out who may apply for access to information in the NAIT database. The committee felt that it should be made clearer what groups of applicants may have access to which categories of data. Most submitters felt that if a person gave their consent to access their information then the restrictions set out in the earlier draft could then be relaxed. It was also pointed out that levy-funded bodies need not be bound by separate rules from other bodies corporate. These changes will make the criteria clearer without compromising the very firm control on information sharing stipulated by the bill. 
The compliance and enforcement provisions of the bill have been rearranged at the committee’s recommendation. Clause 10 has been rewritten to clarify that compliance and enforcement will be undertaken by the NAIT organisation in conjunction with the Crown. 
Another issue that raised comment was the inclusion of clauses cross-referenced from the Search and Surveillance Bill. These provisions were included in the National Animal Identification and Tracing Bill because the wider-ranging provisions of the Search and Surveillance Bill when passed will affect the NAIT organisation’s operations. The later clauses have been included as a schedule to the bill to remove their dominating effect. A consequential amendment may be made later to align the two statutes. 
One further amendment relates to the power to require a person to answer questions about their compliance with the National Animal Identification and Tracing Act or regulations. While the regulations will provide exemptions from some of the general requirements set out in the bill the people involved may still have valuable information to provide should there be a need to trace animal movements. This clause has been redrafted to ensure that people who are exempted under the regulation are still required to provide the information if requested. A further amendment to clause 55 clarifies that a search warrant would be necessary to exercise the power to detain and search conferred by that clause. 
The final point I will make is to take this opportunity of acknowledging in the House today the dedicated work of Mr Ted Coats as chairman of NAIT Ltd. His full commitment to this role has been very much appreciated. I commend the National Animal Identification and Tracing Bill to the House.