How to make a simple exercise into a bureaucratic nightmare

By Glenys Christian

Over the gate


Farmers want strong competition from meat companies for their stock. But there are certain areas where they wish those same companies would cooperate more to make life easier for everyone.

A good example is the companies' quality declaration forms distributed to farmers to use after Wednesday. From that time, farmers sending cattle and deer for slaughter must make out a declaration of the animals' bovine tuberculosis status for the Animal Health Board.

But meat companies have taken the opportunity to combine these statutory requirements with their own qualityassurance programmes.

Some farmers have fought for such programmes for a long time, chief among them Whitianga stalwart Viv Mackereth. They applaud the move, but the way in which meat companies have gone about it has many farmers throwing their hands in the air.

Always individualistic, the companies have done their own thing. So rather than a national declaration form that serves all their purposes, farmers supplying several companies are now faced with very different forms to fill in.

To give credit to the North Island firms, the problem apparently started in the south, where some of the large companies argued that beef cattle going to slaughter did not make up a large part of their business so why should the tail wag the dog.

But the problem has crept north. From Affco, farmers have received a large, self-carboning, firm-backed book in a zip-up, waterproof briefcase, complete with pen, on which to make their declarations.

No problems so far. But if they also supply Richmond, a cardboard sheet that needs to be filled in on both sides is the order of the day.

Farmers rightly ask why the relatively small number of meat companies now left in the country could not have got together and drawn up a single form that met all of their needs.

They have other concerns. With the Richmond form there is no copy for farmers to retain as proof that the declaration is correct, should this later be called into question.

John Miller, executive officer, technical, with the Meat Industry Association, which is facilitating the introduction of the forms, admits that publicity to farmers could have been better.

But he says closer examination of the questions on the differing forms should show they are basically the same, and if farmers are Richmond suppliers he suggests they fill in two forms.

For farmers already agitated by the feeling that they seem to need a university degree to comply with some of the most basic necessities of farming, his solution is not exactly welcome.

Auckland Federated Farmers president Colin Bull says the the ridiculous situation could arise of farmers asking truck drivers how to fill in the forms before they take the stock off to the works.

Consumer trust comes right back to the farm-gate level, a fact which farmers are more than aware of. They hate regulation, but if they are shown that it is necessary to keep overseas markets open, and the requirements have been made as simple as possible, they will go out of their way to comply.

This time, they have been let down.

* Glenys Christian can be contacted on e-mail at glenys@farmindex.co.nz