A Gunnedah stock agent has been issued with a $1000 infringement in relation to breaches of the Biosecurity Act.
In late 2018 investigators from the Oxley Rural Crime Prevention Team were notified that cattle were being sold without being properly identified with electronic NLIS tags and there were discrepancies in stock transport records.
Upon making further enquiries it became apparent that the owner, who is employed as a stock and station agent, had signed a declaration that falsely declared the cattle were being transported from a property, which was different to the property that they were actually transported from.
Further, the owner had failed to update the NLIS database and had falsely signed a national vendor declaration on behalf of a livestock transport company.
In early January, the man was issued a $1000 infringement notice under section 25(1) Biosecurity Act for the offence of ‘Fail to Comply with Mandatory Measures’. He was issued with a warning for the remaining breaches.
NSW Police Force Rural Crime Prevention Team said they regularly undertake operations focusing on enforcement and education in relation to compliance with NLIS and other biosecurity regulations, due to the inherent risks to the cattle industry and the wider economy in the case of disease outbreak, as well as issues with loss of traceability of livestock in the case of stock theft investigations.
