The National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) is a

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

identification and tracking system used in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is administered by Integrity Systems Company, which is a wholly owned

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

Meat and Livestock Australia Meat & Livestock Australia (M&LA) is an independent company which regulates standards for meat and livestock management in Australian and international markets. Headquartered in North Sydney, Australia; M&LA works closely with the Australian go ...

. The system uses Radiofrequency Identification Devices (

RFID Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder, a radio receiver and transmitter. When triggered by an electromag ...

) applied as ear tags to identify and track livestock, each assigned an individual and unique electronic and physical printed tag numbers. There is an associated central electronic database which is used to record each animal's residency and keep track of the other animals it has interacted with. The system improves food safety, acts as a market export assurance program which improves Australia's access to foreign export markets, and assists with disease control, tracing and management. Farmers must register their property with their local jurisdictional government if they hold one or more heads of livestock. Livestock includes cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, camels, deer, alpacas, llamas, horses and poultry; although State and Territory definitions of "livestock" may differ. NLIS does not confirm ownership of livestock. The system originates from a cattle-tracing system introduced in Australia in the 1960s to help fight bovine tuberculosis, which was officially successfully eradicated in Australia on 31 December 1997. The NLIS

system was introduced in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

on 1 July 2004 and replaced the previous tail tag system for cattle. The approved devices used are the commonly used

ear tag An ear tag is a plastic or metal object used for identification of domestic livestock and other animals. If the ear tag uses Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) technology it is referred to as an electronic ear tag. Electronic ear tags ...

s or alternatively a rumen bolus.Beef News April 2004, ''NLIS for improved ID and tracing'' Similar systems exist in other countries such as the

National Animal Identification System The National Animal Identification System, (naisG) is a government-run program in the United States intended to extend government animal health surveillance by identifying and tracking specific animals. Administered at the federal level by the Anim ...

in the United States, the

British Cattle Movement Service The British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS) is the organisation responsible for maintaining a database of all bovine animals in Great Britain; Northern Ireland has a separate database maintained by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development ...

and the proposed

National Animal Identification and Tracing National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) is a system of agricultural animal tracing in New Zealand for biosecurity and human health. The schemes use radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology and a national database to trace animals ...

in New Zealand.

References

Identification of domesticated animals Livestock in Australia {{Australia-stub

See also

References