Ospri brings Bovine TB testing in-house
The move to bring bovine TB testing in-house at Ospri officially started this month, as a team of 37 skilled and experienced technicians begin work with the disease eradication agency.
OSPRI national manager, quality, compliance and assurance, Melissa Bailey, says that overall the higher than expected demand is a good sign for the industry that so many individuals and organisations got on board with the new accreditation programme.
“The impact of the programme is already being felt,” Bailey says. “Over 300 individuals have completed online education modules in NAIT legislation and obligations. This means that the industry is more confident in the advice they provide to farmers on how to meet their NAIT obligations, and there are fewer errors in the NAIT system.”
Bailey says that since launching the education modules, errors made by accredited organisations in the in the NAIT system have reduced by two thirds.
“Because the demand for audits surpassed our capacity at the end of the year, there have been delays in completing the audit process, so there are still organisations waiting to become accredited,” says Bailey.
“We apologise for the delay but rest assured, nobody will lose their accreditation if they have started the accreditation process and completed their education models. We will not penalise organisations for these delays. Our audit supplier is working as fast as possible to get through the backlog.”
Thirteen organisations are now accredited under the new Information Provider and Entities Dealing with NAIT Animals Standards. This includes the four largest Information Providers in the country.
NAIT expects a further 25 organisations to complete accreditation in the next three months, with further invitations to apply due to be sent out in mid-2023 for those who have not yet started the process.
“It takes a lot of time and significant effort to complete accreditation. But farmers can have peace of mind that using a provider who has been accredited under the new standards will mean that the registration and movement of their animals will happen in an accurate and timely manner,” says Bailey.
