Schuster Consulting Group was engaged to undertake a comprehensive review of the accreditation process for manufacturers seeking to sell devices which enable Australia’s national system for ensuring traceability, biosecurity, food safety and market access; the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS).
This review included an assessment of international animal traceability requirements (US, Canada, UK and NZ), consultation with stakeholders including device manufacturers, state/territory government authorities, industry representative bodies and technical experts. The review considered the accreditation standards and the trial process manufacturers must follow in order to become accredited suppliers of NLIS approved devices. More than 75 recommendations were made relating to the standards, processes and policies surrounding NLIS device accreditation all of which were accepted by industry.
Following this, Schuster Consulting Group set about modernising the approval program.
This repositioned the program as the NLIS Animal Identification Technology Approval Program in order to ensure it remained outcomes based and open to innovation.
The project included development of the standards and rules which govern the process, including extensive stakeholder consultation and collaboration, navigation of the Standards through a public comment phase and negotiation with industry and state and territory jurisdictions over content and policy. The new program and its standards and rules were adopted by industry in 2021.
