About the NAIT review

NAIT was introduced in 2012 with a 3-year transition period for registration of cattle and deer in the programme ending in July 2015 and March 2016, respectively.

The NAIT review began in August 2016 with the purpose of evaluating progress to date and identifying any potential improvements to the programme. The review report was made available in April 2018.

The review was led by a Steering Committee supported by a Technical User Committee. Both committees comprised representatives from:

• industry agencies
• NAIT Limited
• government
• commercial entities
• other user groups.

Industry focus groups also provided initial feedback on the committees’ proposals.

The review resulted in a range of recommendations for improving the delivery of the programme.

The committees

The NAIT review was undertaken by a Technical User Committee, overseen by a Steering Committee chaired by Sir Henry van der Heyden. The Steering Committee was made up of:

• industry representatives
• key user groups
• government.

It was responsible for overseeing the review and preparing the final recommendations to be presented to industry and government.

The NAIT review Technical User Committee was established to provide technical advice to the Steering Committee on:

• technical material
• policy
• commissioned research.

Membership of the Technical User Committee included two Steering Committee representatives, technical and policy specialists, and users of the NAIT system.

The Technical User Committee used a range of reference material in addition to members’ own knowledge and experience to inform their discussions and recommendations. We provided a series of reports, and the Technical User and Steering Committees also commissioned several projects to examine technical matters. Reports used included, but were not restricted to:

• The Economics of Livestock Traceability in New Zealand. SG Heilbron. October 2015.
• NAIT Technical User Committee Interviews – Incentives and drivers for livestock traceability in New Zealand: Report. SG Heilbron. October 2016.
• Comparison of New Zealand National Animal Identification and Tracing Scheme against international traceability schemes. ADT Project GmbH. 14 November 2016.
• Current and Future Options for the Use of RFID in the New Zealand National Animal and Identification Tracing System. Pareto Consulting UK. 15 June 2017 Economic Review of Tag Supply in NAIT, Covec Limited, 1 December 2017.

OSPRI also provided statistical analysis to help the committees in their work and made feedback available on a range of specific usability issues gathered by OSPRI through surveys, direct farmer engagements, training events and other forums.