NAIT legislation

The legislation is made up of 3 elements:

• The NAIT Act.
• NAIT regulations.
• NAIT standards, policies and rules.

The NAIT Act

The NAIT Act sets out the requirements participants in the NAIT scheme must meet. It also sets up a guideline for participants to access data, and for NAIT Ltd to recover costs and enforce obligations.

In December 2019, the NAIT Amendment Bill (No. 2) was passed by Parliament. Changes to NAIT legislation were introduced following recommendations made in the NAIT review, lessons learned from the Mycoplasma bovis response, and consultation with farmers, industry and stakeholders. 

The changes:

• tightened rules on handling untagged animals
• improved use of NAIT data
• increased infringement penalties to reflect the seriousness of NAIT non-compliance.  

Here is a summary of what has changed:

• People in Charge of Animals (PICAs) must now make a NAIT animal’s location history available to a purchaser if requested.
• Animals need to be 'unsafe to tag' (UTT), rather than just impractical, if they’re not going to be tagged before transport to a meat processor.
• PICAs need to register UTT animals in NAIT at any time before they are transported and must visibly identify the untagged animals that have an exemption. Other NAIT animals must be registered at least 48 hours before they're moved.
• There are increased penalties for non-compliance.
• PICAs need to provide an annual estimate of the number and type of non-NAIT animals at a NAIT location.
• There are now penalties for transporters moving untagged animals that do not have an exemption. If the transporter is carrying a declaration from the PICA that the animals are identified and registered with NAIT, they are exempt from the offence. PICAs will have to provide this declaration. 
• PICAs can only use NAIT tags for the location they were purchased for — bringing New Zealand in line with international best practice.

NAIT Standards and Guidelines

The NAIT Act gives NAIT Ltd the ability to issue standards, policies and rules. These are necessary for the NAIT scheme to operate.

Information System Access Panel Regulations

These regulations, which came into effect on 10 January 2013, establish the NAIT Information System Access Panel.

Infringement Offences Regulations

These regulations, which came into effect on 10 January 2013, specify offences against the NAIT Act and regulations, and prescribe infringement fees.

Obligations and Exemptions Regulations

These regulations, which came into effect on 1 July 2012, provide the detail of the obligations and exemptions for the NAIT scheme to work.

NAIT Scheme Levies

These regulations, which came into effect on 28 June 2012, impose levies on owners of animals in the NAIT scheme.

Fees and Forms Regulations

These regulations, which came into effect on 1 July 2012, prescribe the fees payable and the forms to be used for an application for accreditation as an entity or information provider, and the fees for applying to access NAIT data.