CHANGES will come into play from September 1 to the Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) program which has been crucial in ensuring Australia’s $74.5 billion red meat industry continues to thrive.
The LPA was created to provide the red meat industry with consistent on-farm standards and practices to manage potential food safety risks and assure global customers about the integrity of Australian red meat.
From next month the existing questionnaire for accreditation and reaccreditation will be replaced with a new Self-Assessment tool.
Taking around 20 minutes to complete, this new tool improves the existing questionnaire and is also aimed at helping livestock producers increase their awareness and understanding of the LPA requirements.
After completion, producers will be able to download a personalised Recommendations Report which will include suggestions to help inform on-farm changes to increase productivity and compliance with LPA requirements.
The renewal period for LPA accreditation from September 1 will be two years, instead of the existing three years.
The change has been made to help producers stay up to date with LPA requirements, ensure the information remains top of mind and help support the robustness of the program.
Integrity Systems Company CEO Jo Quigley said the changes were designed to ensure Australia’s red meat industry continued to be a dominant player in the global supply of red meat.
“Accreditation ensures Australian producers can maintain access to markets globally and locally and allows them to attract the best price possible for their quality red meat,” she said.
“Having the ability to add voluntary modules to the program such as for Harvested Rangeland Goats brings a new level of flexibility to the program. In the future more voluntary modules will be added, further setting Australia up to be able to continue to compete globally.
“The delivery of the new Self-Assessment tool marks a significant step forward in responding to consumer sentiment around animal welfare and biosecurity concerns.”
The cost of accreditation and reaccreditation is just under $100 for the two-year accreditation period.
