Legal obligations
Reporting obligations for owners of imported ruminants come under the Biosecurity (Imported Animals, Embryos, and Semen Information) Regulations 1999.
The reporting obligations do not apply to the offspring of imported ruminant animals.
Reporting a death by disease or illness
You must report to MPI within 4 hours if a live imported ruminant animal dies of disease or is put down due to illness.
Call MPI's 24-hour Exotic Pest and Disease Hotline: 0800 80 99 66.
Other reporting requirements
For live imported ruminant animals, you must report to MPI (imported.animals2@mpi.govt.nz) within 7 days if:
- you send any animals to be slaughtered (don't send an imported ruminant for processing into pet food as this is illegal)
- you home-kill any animals
- MPI ear tags are lost or become hard to read (for replacement NAIT tags for cattle, buffaloes, and deer, contact one of the suppliers of NAIT tags. You must register the RFID NAIT tag on the NAIT system within 7 days of tagging)
- animals are sold or their ownership changes
- an animals' location changes
- your contact details change
- an animal goes missing.
Call the hotline – 0800 80 99 66
The easiest way to notify MPI of an event that must be reported is to call our hotline on 0800 80 99 66.
The operator will record your:
- name
- phone number
- address
- email address
- the species of animal involved
- the description of the event
- the animal’s MPI ear tag number.
Annual status report
Each year in May, MPI will send you an Annual Status Report (ASR) with details of your imported ruminants. Complete the ASR and return it in the postage-paid envelope by 30 June of that year.
If you don't submit the ASR on time, MPI will do a full audit of your farm. This normally takes about 5 hours to complete. You won't be charged for the audit.
It is an offence to:
- not supply the ASR to MPI
- provide false or misleading information to MPI.
Ruminant animals from imported embryos
If you own cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goats, or deer that originated from imported embryos, you must keep records for 7 years. You don't need to submit the records but, if requested, you must make them available to MPI within 48 hours.
Records must include:
- the animal's date of birth, sex, species, and breed or type
- the place where the animal is kept
- the animal's on-farm identification
- any change in ownership of the animal, including the name and address of the new and former owners
- the date the animal dies or is slaughtered.
Find out more
For more information about the reporting obligations:
Pamphlet on reporting obligations for owners of imported ruminants [PDF, 885 KB]
Penalties
There are penalties for not complying with the requirements of the regulations. The maximum fine is $5,000 for individuals and $15,000 for corporations.
Who to contact
For more information on the reporting obligations for imported ruminant animals, email info@mpi.govt.nz
