The Department of Agriculture in New Zealand: No fixed payment notices issued for tagging offences

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has confirmed that no fixed payment notices (FPN) have been issued to farmers for tagging and registration breaches to date this year. This year’s farm inspections to ensure compliance with regulations commenced in the first week of April. In 2021, which is the most recent data available, the department carried out 3,607 bovine IDR inspections and 1,380 sheep and goat IDR inspections. DAFM As part of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) compliance with tagging and registration as a statutory minimum requirement (SMR) was removed. Therefore, cross compliance or conditionality penalties can no longer be applied to a farmer’s direct payments for breaching these requirements. Advertisement The level of farm inspections is maintained at 3% of holdings for cattle, sheep and goats. The change means that the department is now managing breaches of identification register (IDR) rules in a different manner from 2023 onwards. ...