Register as a Person in Charge of Animals (PICA)

Who must register

You must register as a PICA if you're responsible for the day-to-day management of:

• a herd of deer or cattle
• a single cattle beast or deer — for example, on your lifestyle block, or at a zoo or wildlife park.

You must register as a PICA within 48 hours after the end of the day you first become a PICA. 

There can only be 1 PICA for each NAIT location number. You don't have to be the owner of the stock you manage — for example, you may be the farm manager, a grazier or contract milker. If you're the person most involved with the daily care of the animals, then you're their PICA.

PICA responsibilities

As a PICA, you're responsible for keeping the details in your account up to date. This includes:

• your personal and contact details
• the details of other people you authorise to update your NAIT account
• all the locations where you keep your animals
• the details of your animals, including tag numbers, movements to and from your property, and when they go missing, die or are killed on your property.

You also need to register your herd — even if it's only 1 animal — with our TBfree programme so you can help prevent the spread of bovine TB.

Delegating tasks to others

You can delegate NAIT tasks to other farm staff or an information provider, such as a stock and station agent, but you're still responsible for ensuring the information is up to date.

Why you need to register

Registering yourself and your animals can:

• help you make better management decisions
• increase biosecurity on your property, and
• improve New Zealand's access to overseas markets for our animal products.

If you don't register

Under the NAIT Act you may be liable for fines or prosecution if you don't register and keep your account up to date. For example, if you don't register as a PICA you can be fined $800.

How to register

Use our guide to help you through the registration process.

When you register with NAIT you need to agree to the Terms and Conditions.

After you register

After you've set up your NAIT account, you need to register your property as a NAIT location, and tag and register your animals.

You also need to register your herd or animals for TB management.