New Way to Verify Anaesthetic/Analgesic Declarations for Australian Wool

New Way to Verify Anaesthetic/Analgesic Declarations for Australian Wool

The National Wool Declaration (NWD) completed its triennial review with industry in 2023, with Version 10.0 implemented in July 2024.

A significant and recent change has been trialled and is now implemented for desk top audits and the verification of Anaesthetic/Analgesic (AA) declarations. Victoria has introduced Prevention of Cruelty to Animal (POCTA) legislation that states any mulesing conducted in Victoria since 2019, must use pain relief.

Under Regulation 8(2) of the new Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (POCTA) Regulations 2019, a person must not mules a sheep unless the sheep is administered with a pain relief product that has been registered for use on sheep by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority.

To improve the validation of AA declarations in Victoria, AWEX will align with existing regulations rather than duplicate them, thereby avoiding additional administrative burdens for wool growers. If a grower can provide evidence such as a purchase invoice and/or National Vendor Declaration (NVD) proving that sheep in a specific mob were born and mulesed in Victoria since 2019, this will be accepted as evidence of AA verification.

AWEX Business Transformation & Integrity Manager, Kate Farquhar said “This is an opportunity to improve the declaration process and reduce the workload on wool growers and their selling agents. By eliminating the need to search for receipts and instead leveraging existing regulations, AWEX is taking a common-sense approach to an important issue.”

Tasmania introduced similar legislation in 2023 and other states may consider introducing similar legislation in the future.

“As each State/Territory comes on board with similar legislation, this change will be expanded and ultimately, when all states are aligned, verification of AA declarations will no longer be required“, Farquhar added. For further information: https://www.awex.com.au/standards/national-wool-declaration-nwd/