Take your PIC…and renew on time
Livestock producers are reminded to make sure their stock brand and property identification code (PIC) registration is up to date to avoid delays at saleyards and processors.
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) Registrar of Stock and Apiaries reminds producers to renew their brand on time to avoid being automatically deregistered.
Without registration producers are unable to sell or move stock legally.
Recently, several consignments of stock have been delivered to saleyards and abattoirs where the brand and PIC had expired.
These stock cannot be moved or sold until the brand is renewed, creating considerable delay and inconvenience for both the owner and the saleyard or processor.
The department Brands office currently mails renewal notices to all registered producers five weeks before the registration expiry date.
From 1 July, producers will be given eight weeks notification.
In 2016, the Brands office processed 6808 registration documents, including new registrations, re-registrations, transfers, cancellations and property detail amendments.
An additional 6433 renewal notices were issued.
Almost half of these renewals had to be issued a second notice as registered owners failed to pay the renewal fee before the PIC expiry date.
This equates to 50% of the year’s PIC renewals with a potential ‘urgent’ need for processing.
This creates processing bottlenecks and subsequent problems with consignments from expired PICs arriving at the saleyard or processor.
To ensure they receive their renewal notice, PIC owners are reminded to update their postal details within seven days of any change of address as is required by the legislation.
Re-registrations can be returned by post or email.
Every PIC is published on the National PIC Register and is used by the Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) program to accredit producers to use the commercially required suite of National Vendor Declarations (NVDs).
If a producer hasn’t paid their livestock owner registration renewal fee on time, their PIC will be deregistered, with both the department and LPA.
This means they can’t use an NVD and the PIC won’t be recognised by saleyard and abattoir operators.
Upon renewal, the producer is required to contact LPA and request their PIC be reinstated on the accredited list.
The LPA NVD waybill is an industry-driven initiative to assure Australia’s domestic and export markets of the safety of Australian beef, lamb and goat meat.
PIC owners are urged to be patient as the re-registration process is not instantaneous.
To check the expiry date of a PIC or update details, producers can enter the code in the Brands - Property identification code enquiry page.
Adding or removing a property to a registration at any time is free of charge.
To check LPA accreditation contact 1800 683 111 or go to Livestock Production Assurance to plug in your PIC.
Other useful pages on the department website include:
- Livestock ownership, identification and movement in Western Australia
- Registering as an owner of stock or as a beekeeper
For more information contact Beth Green, NLIS Operations Manager, Bunbury on +61 (0)8 9753 0302.