A recent audit of the National Vendor Declaration (NVD) system for cattle found there were significant errors in declarations presented at saleyards with corresponding groups of cattle.

"Given the widespread acceptance of NVDs and their importance to food safety, the accuracy of the information included on them is immensely important," NSW Department of Primary Industries’ Yanco beef livestock officer, John Irwin, said.

The majority of errors discovered in the audit occurred in section A of the NVD and parts requiring completion by the producer of the cattle. The errors included:

• Crossing out the pre printed PIC and writing in another
• Omission of the consignment or destination addresses, if they were different. For example, if cattle were being sold at auction, the agent’s "consigned to" address and the saleyard’s destination address should have been included
• Not answering all nine questions in section A.

"The NVD has been an integral part of the Australian cattle industry since 1996 and represents one of the key systems developed by the red meat industry to underpin Australia commitment to food safety," Mr Irwin said.

The NVD is the means to transfer from the seller to the buyer information pertinent to food safety in the cattle for sale.

In 2003, the industry introduced the Livestock Production Assurance program (LPA).

The program is designed to be an on farm food safety certification program and is auditable.

If you have purchased a book of vendor declarations after 2003 you are part of LPA and can be subject to an audit.

Currently more than 99 per cent of cattle sold are accompanied by a NVD.

A Nation vendor declaration is made up of three parts:

• Part A - producer declaration
• Part B - transport declaration
• Part C - agent declaration for cattle sold at auction.

There are comprehensive explanatory notes on the inside cover of the vendor declaration booklet that give clear, concise instructions on how to correctly complete each section of the form.

Contact your local DPI beef cattle officer, or to order vendor declaration booklets, contact MLA on 1800 683 111 or www.mla.com.au