The AWEX board has ratified the introduction of a national vendor declaration (NVD) for wool, which will include a declaration for non-mulesed wool, at sales from July 21.
The ratification endorses recommendations submitted to it by its Industry Services Advisory Committee (ISAC).
This will formalise the identification of Mulesing Status of wool in supply chain information systems, in combination with the current declarations for Merino Dark and Medullated Fibre Risk and chemical use.
The AWEX Board endorsed the following:
• That Mulesing Status refers only to the practice of mulesing. Mulesing is defined as: The removal of skin from the breech region of a sheep using shears.
• That formal implementation of Mulesing Status is to be expedited with standardisation of the common elements of the Declaration.
• The critical elements required to facilitate a Declaration of Mulesing Status are that:
a) the Declaration must be completed by the Owner/Manager of the property.
b) the Owner/Manager must be clearly identified with the property.
c) the Declaration must be able to be linked to the sale lot of wool for audit purposes.
d) the Owner/Manager must be informed that they are signing a declaration of reliance that is subject to
audit.
e) the Owner/Manager is able to declare (for any breed type) that they have ceased, or do not perform, mulesing at a property level, and, at a mob level, whether the mob is mulesed or not.
• A new field known as Mulesing Status will be introduced to sale lot information and catalogues.
The recommended catalogue location of the Mulesing Status will be in the Australian public catalogue standard layout.
Mulesing Status declarations will start from July 21.
AWEX says sellers can use the interim period to trial the NVD and activate declaration procedures and processes.
Printing in the catalogue may occur prior to this date, subject to the readiness of software providers.
Electronic catalogues will not be updated until after July 21.
SOURCE: AWEX