Purpose of the Animal Status Declaration (ASD)
Practices on the farm impact on the suitability of animals for processing and on animal products' eligibility for trade. The purpose of the ASD is to transfer key information about a pig, or group of pigs, to the next person in charge, or the processor.
For the processor, the information on the ASD is vital for guiding ante-mortem and post-mortem examination, and for determining export eligibility and certification.
Information sought on the white sections of the declaration form is required to comply with the Animal Products Act 1999.
Information sought in the shaded sections of the declaration form is requested to support industry agreed requirements. Provision of this information is voluntary for the New Zealand market but may be required for market access requirements either within NZ or overseas.
Privacy Act Statement
The Privacy Act 2020 provides rights of access to, and correction of, personal information held in readily retrievable form. The information is held by the receiver of the ASD.
Who is to complete and sign the ASD?
The ASD is to be completed by a person in charge of the pigs who has the knowledge and authority to answer all the applicable questions. The person in charge of the pigs could be the owner, farm manager or saleyard operator; but does NOT include transport operators.
However, transport operators are required to transfer the ASD when provided with the animals being moved (this excludes transfers using an electronic ASDs).
Use of the ASD
When it is provided, the signed ASD form must accompany the pigs sent from the property. In the case of an electronic transfer, the ASD must be present at the receiving property when the pigs arrive. If pigs arrive at a property without an ASD or an electronic ASD having been received, then the pigs must be separated from all other pigs and held until an ASD is received.
Guidelines for Completing the ASD
Under the Animal Products Act, the ASD MUST be completed for:
- all consignments of pigs sent for processing; and
- for all movements of pigs sent from one property or saleyard to another property or saleyard where there is a different person in charge.
Saleyard operators must complete a new ASD, or where there is no change to the status of pigs, the saleyard operator may use a clear photocopy of the ASD for Pigs received with the pigs. Where photocopies are used, the tallies must be altered to match the departing pigs, and the ASD MUST be countersigned by the saleyard operator as being true and correct and tally changes initialed.
Alternatively, it is acceptable for the sales docket which accurately states the number of animals purchased to be attached to a copy of the incoming ASD. Where there is change to the status of pigs at the saleyard, a new ASD must be completed.
NOTES
The ASD for pigs is a mandated form under the Animal Products Act.
Where the description of the pigs will not fit in the space provided (e.g. the tattoo/brand/ear tag of pigs), if necessary, an additional piece of paper that is signed by the person in charge and attached to the ASD can be used.
Compulsory Requirements
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Withholding period - all pigs
You need only detail any treatment which remains within the withholding period. Animals that are within a withholding period are NOT eligible for slaughter for human consumption.
If you do not know the withholding period, a 63 day with-holding period must be applied.
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Animal history - all pigs
Movement control: Question 2.2 must be ticked 'yes' when pigs are under any movement control imposed by MPI.
Industry Agreed Requirements
Questions 3 to 8 are industry agreed voluntary declaration questions.
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PST (Porcine Somatotropin) is a veterinary medicine and must meet the prescribed meat-withholding period, which is 24 hours. A declaration of use over the pigs' lifetime is sought to provide traceability. To answer 'no' to question 3, you must be sure that these pigs have never been treated with PST in their lifetime. All pigs, whether or not treated with PST, are eligible for slaughter.
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It is an offence to feed, or allow, cause or permit pigs to be fed, untreated meat or untreated food waste. 'Treated' means heated to 100° Celsius and maintained at that temperature for not less than one hour, or another approved standard.
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Untreated meat means meat that has not been 'treated' as defined above. Untreated food waste means any feed that is or contains untreated meat or may have come into contact with untreated meat. Meat does not include eggs, milk, or rendered material.
- 4.1To answer 'no' to question 4.1, you must be sure that these pigs have never been fed any meat or food waste (as defined in note 4) in their lifetime. You are strongly advised to ask the supplier of any feed for a declaration of content.
- 4.2To answer 'yes' to question 4.2, you must be able to demonstrate that meat or food waste fed to the pigs any time during their lifetime has been treated as required by the regulations. Unless you have treated the feed yourself, you must obtain evidence of treatment from any supplier of any meat and/or food waste.
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NZPork's policy is that porcine material should not be fed to pigs with the exceptions of sow milk and the use of spray dried porcine plasma (SDPP) as a feed supplement for young pigs. This is to minimise risks associated with disease transfer, improve pig health, welfare and productivity, and maintain consumer confidence. To answer 'no' you must be sure that no porcine material (other than sow milk and the use of spray dried porcine plasma (SDPP) for young pigs) has been included in the feed of this consignment of pigs at any time.
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A leptospirosis control programme requires vaccination of the breeding herd if present at least every 6 months, and certification of the grower herd as 'free of leptospirosis' at least once every 12 months. Grower herd certification is based on the results of serological testing of a minimum of 10 grower pigs either within two weeks of slaughter or at slaughter using the MAT (Micro Agglutination Test) for Leptospira pomona. A registered veterinarian must interpret the results to determine the status of the grower herd. Equivalence to the above programme documented by a registered veterinarian is accepted.
- 6.1If the pigs HAVE NOT been managed in a leptospirosis control programme, as defined above, has the breeding herd, if present, been vaccinated within the last 6 months? If you do not have a breeding herd, write in N/A (not applicable) or leave blank.
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This PigCare™ question is included to enable supply requirements of commercial groups to be met. To answer 'yes', the pigs must have been farmed on a PigCare accredited farm. For more information refer to NZPork.
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This question is included to enable additional supply requirements, if any, of commercial groups to be met. Farms registered as eligible to export pork meat e.g. to Singapore, must write in New Zealand PIB Export Assurance Programme.
Animal welfare
The Animal Welfare Act creates obligations to alleviate pain or distress of ill or injured animals. A veterinary declaration of fitness to transport is required for any ill or injured animals. Further information and Animal Welfare Regulations and Codes are available from the MPI website by searching 'Animal Welfare'.
Records
Under the Animal Products Act, the person in charge who completed and signed the ASD must keep a copy of the completed ASD for 1 year. The person in charge who received the animals must keep the ASD received for the period that the pigs are kept and then for an additional year. Processing companies must keep the signed ASD (and any faxed changes) for 4 years from receipt.
Scanned and emailed or faxed copies of any changes to the ASD are acceptable.
Warnings
It is an offence under the Animal Products Act 1999 to falsify, alter or misrepresent any declaration required by this Act (i.e. the white sections of this form), with the intent to deceive or for the purposes of obtaining any material benefit or avoiding any material detriment.
It is an offence under the Biosecurity (Meat and Food Waste for Pigs) Regulations 2005 to feed untreated meat or untreated food waste (see 4. above).
Giving a false or misleading declaration on both (white and shaded) sections of the declaration form could give rise to liability under the Fair Trading Act 1986, including criminal liability, which can carry a fine of up to $200,000 for individuals and up to $600,000 for corporations.
Obtaining the ASD forms
Forms can be ordered from NZPork by ringing 0800 697 675 (NZ PORK). Forms are provided free of charge to pork producers registered with NZPork. Other persons will be charged $25 per book of 25 forms. Forms can be downloaded free of charge from MPI's website (www.mpi govt.nz) or NZPork's website (www.nzpork.co.nz).
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