Reviewing national vendor declarations (NVDs)

The National Vendor Declaration (NVD) fulfills a critical assurance and traceability role for the Australian meat and livestock industry as it supports and communicates the food safety and treatment status of animals as they move through the supply chain. NVDs have undergone significant alterations since introduced, including the implementation of Livestock Production Assurance and electronic NVDs, question changes and merging of travel documentation to satisfy some state-based movement legislation. Information included in NVDs is critical for continued export market access and is used by processors, exporters, and regulators. The NVD also enables feedback to producers and regulatory action to be taken, if appropriate, for example, where residues testing detects a violative residue. It is important that NVDs are fit for purpose for continued confidence in Australian red meat industry. This project will undertake a review of the current and future roles of NVDs and will identify how the NVD and its delivery mechanism needs to evolve to ensure it continues to be fit for purpose and addresses the emerging traceability and credential requirements of markets. It will include a benchmark study of the supply chain communication systems of market access competitors and ensure that our system aligns with, or is better, than our competitors. This project will also identify NVD mechanisms to capture and use data along the supply chain to underpin export requirements and to quickly respond to new requirements and opportunities.