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OJD trading scheme is simple as ABC

Victoria’s Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Hugh Millar recently announced a scheme that will help sheep farmers establish the integrity of their flock with regard to Ovine Johne’s Disease (OJD).

By Department of Primary Industries - 21st April 2004 - Back to News

The Assurance Based Credit (ABC) Scheme, which will commence on 1 July 2004, will assure buyers of the integrity of sheep in the market place and enable the national management of OJD.

"The ABC Scheme has been agreed to nationally and was developed by the sheep industry following extensive discussion and negotiations," Dr Millar said.

"The ABC Scheme delivers on all the important OJD issues identified by Victorian producers and will expand trading opportunities within Victoria and interstate.

"As the scheme has been agreed to nationally, the job now is to inform and educate the industry about how it works and the benefits it will provide.

"Under the ABC scheme, whatever efforts a farmer has made to treat and control OJD in their flock will earn credit points for their flock. Testing will earn a certain number of credit points, as will vaccination. Testing and vaccination together will earn more credit points. The choice rests entirely with the farmer.

"The result is the marketplace will be better informed about the sheep being offered for sale and buyers will then be able to make an informed decision to suit their needs," Dr Millar said.

Victorian OJD Advisory Committee Chairman, Mr Frank Tobin noted that Victorian producers had overwhelmingly identified the importance of an OJD program that would provide:

• trading options for affected flocks;
• realistic pathways for flocks to manage infection;
• broad access to vaccine; and
• greater producer/industry responsibility for managing OJD (less regulated restriction).

Mr Tobin encouraged all Victorian producers to only purchase and sell sheep with an Animal Health Statement that conveys meaningful information about OJD.

"There will now be pathways forward for flocks that are suspected or known to be infected with OJD that provide trading options, for example, for vaccinated sheep, for terminal lambs identified with NLIS (sheep) T tags, and for tested-low-level-infected flocks," he said.

Mr Tobin strongly encouraged producers to attend DPI regional information sessions that will be held throughout the State prior to the introduction of the scheme and to contact local animal health staff to discuss their situation.

BEST PRACTICE MESSAGE SPREADS TO BOOST MARKET ACCESS

Three new videos have been developed to improve the adoption of best practices by vegetable growers and workers from non-English speaking backgrounds.

The Victorian Department of Primary Industries (DPI), with support from the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, has produced the videos in the Vietnamese, Cantonese and Khmer languages, for Australia-wide distribution.

DPI’s Food Safety Manager, Dr Kaye Coates, said that the videos are a further step towards providing the whole vegetable-growing community with an understanding of best practice handling of their products.

"It is vital that we reach all members of the industry with the message about using the best and safest practices in vegetable production," said Dr Coates.

"Apart from satisfying the local demand for healthy food products, demonstrating industry-wide adoption of best practice will further improve Australia’s reputation as a supplier of clean produce. This will enhance market access and economic development by increasing exports and providing more jobs."

People from Asian non-English speaking backgrounds comprise more than fifty percent of staff working on vegetable-growing properties in Victoria. This group is largely represented by workers of Vietnamese and Cambodian background.

Bill Schreurs, of vegetable growers J&JM Schreurs and Sons at Clyde, said that the Asian language videos had made the process of training their ethnic staff much simpler and less expensive.

"Because we have a high turnover of staff, training them in occupational health and safety and other practices has always been time-consuming and expensive for us," he said.

"The introduction of English language videos took some pressure off employers, but we still had to hire an interpreter to work on each session. However, the new Asian language videos remove the cost of an interpreter and give us more flexibility in scheduling training sessions. We are very grateful that they are now available to us."

The videos are translations of the English language production "Healthy Harvest", released in 2001 by Swinburne University of Technology, with input from DPI. The focus is on best practices in cropping and post harvest handling, correct use of chemicals and the principles of food safety.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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