I believe it is worth throwing the kitchen sink at the problem if there is any chance of eradication.
To do otherwise would be irresponsible in the extreme.
If the Mycoplasma bovis incursion has done nothing else it has proved beyond all doubt that we don’t have a working identification and traceability system.
I found the entire blame game about traceability both annoying and frustrating.
Primary Industries Ministry head Martyn Dunne said he is disappointed by the number of farmers failing to tag stock.
That was supported by MPI readiness and response director Geoff Gwyn who told us Nait fell short of expectation.
Nait administrator, OSPRI head Michelle Edge then told us the system is only as good as the data entered.
While I accept that premise I ask whatever happened to OSPRI’s monitoring. Surely, it had some idea of the level of compliance.
It isn’t good enough to sit in a comfortable seat in Wellington and say your systems are fine but the input is abysmal. Surely you would know.
O’Connor said compliance in some areas is as low as 30%. He described farmers’ attitude as lax.
At 30% compliance he has a point.
OSPRI chairman Jeff Grant said compliance at sale yards is 94% and 96% for stock going to slaughter.
For the record, I don’t accept those figures.
Tirau farmer and Nait director Ted Coats, who helped set up the system, made an Official Information Act request to MPI and was told by the acting readiness and response services director Samiel Leske “I can confirm there is no report authored by MPI relating to Nait’s effectiveness or fitness for purpose”.
So it’s okay to castigate farmers for non-compliance on traceability when the agency tasked with policing it hasn’t a clue as to the system’s effectiveness or fitness for purpose.
The shareholders in OSPRI are listed as Dairy NZ, Beef + Lamb NZ, Deer Industry NZ and MPI.
I strongly suggest the farmer industry-good organisations are asleep at the wheel and what is MPI doing?
Why wasn’t it monitoring OSPRI to establish its effectiveness or whether it is fit for purpose?
That begs the question if OSPRI is being monitored at all.
Farmers say there is universal concern about OSPRI’s disestablishment of the compliance team.
“The compliance team was visible and helpful in getting NAIT established.”
“The main issue was to get NAIT up and running. There needed to be feet on the ground.”
“There needed to be audits of transport companies, sale yards and processing facilities.”
“Tags fall out due to poor placement. Education and training were needed.”
“Some farmers were confused by the technology. They needed assistance.”
It all makes good sense to me. You can’t run a system by keeping a chair warm in Wellington.
I approached OSPRI to ask why it had axed the compliance team.
It told me OSPRI did not “axe” the compliance team – its focus was shifted to verification.
My issue with that response is that if you have no compliance feet on the ground how can you verify anything
Edge’s response to the shortcomings of Nait that the system is only as good as the data entered suggests verification isn’t working.
As an aside I did get a lot of feedback about the tags themselves. They aren’t up to it and not user-friendly.
Getting back to Grant’s claim of 94% compliance at sale yards and 96% at slaughter. I suggest the presence of a tag doesn’t have to mean a lot. You’d want to question if the animal status declaration was correct and whether the animals came from the place the database claimed.
Truck drivers tell me that if an animal isn’t tagged processing companies don’t want to know.
One farmer had, according to Nait, cattle on his property. They’d been killed and the tags hadn’t been read by the processing company.
Another was told by Nait to just wipe all the tags that haven’t recorded and start afresh. You have to be joking.
And one had an email saying he’d bought 22 cattle when he hadn’t bought any.
One truck driver was given a pocketful of tags. Another said he’d often find tags in his truck.
We’ve had a Nait review and changes need to be made. Farmers do need to get their act together but so do MPI and OSPRI. I suggest OSPRI is dysfunctional and that huge changes are needed.
Imagine if the incursion was foot and mouth and not Mycoplasma bovis.
We’d be stuffed.
