Buying and selling pigs

Buying and selling pigs in NSW requires compliance with biosecurity and identification laws. Learn about Property Identification Codes (PIC), swine branding, NLIS ear tags, and PigPass National Vendor Declarations.

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Buying and selling pigs

Pigs and your legal obligation

There are some legal requirements that must be adhered to when keeping pigs in NSW and this will vary between different local council areas and land use zones.

Check with your Local Council for requirements in your area for:

  • having pigs as pets
  • how many pigs you can own
  • slaughtering pigs for your own consumption only
  • commercial pig production. 

Checklist when buying pigs

The Biosecurity (National Livestock Identification System) Regulation 2017 requires that pig owners have a Property Identification Code (PIC), even if you only have one pig and it is a pet.

Step 1: Get a PIC

Make sure your PIC is active and up to date. Phone your nearest LLS office on 1300 795 299 or apply for a PIC.

Step 2:  Branding

Order a Swine Brand (pigs over 25kg)

Pigs moving to a saleyard, another property or an abattoir must be branded with a swine brand if they weigh more than 25 kg and are changing ownership.

Brands are:

  • carbon ink
  • on the left shoulder for pigs born on the property
  • on the right shoulder for pigs that have been introduced or of unknown origin
  • based on the Property Identification Code (PIC) of the property the pigs were last on.

If your property does not have its own swine brand, contact Local Land Services to discuss purchasing a brand for your property.

NLIS accredited ear tags (pigs under 25kg)

NLIS accredited ear tags for pigs are either yellow or orange and are printed with a property’s unique PIC, the NLIS logo and ‘P’ inside a circle.

These ear tags are used to permanently identify pigs less than 25 kg liveweight and may be used as an option for identifying pigs greater than 25kg if a brand is unavailable.

  • Pigs can have only one ‘breeder’ tag, but more than one ‘post-breeder’ tag.
  • It is illegal to remove tags from a pig until it is being processed at an abattoir.

Contact your local rural supplier for ordering tags.

Step 3: PigPass NVD

PigPass is a national tracking system which provides real time information on the movements of all pigs in Australia. This enables authorities to quickly determine the source of a disease outbreak and notify people with pigs in the affected area to stop the spread of disease. Pigs moving to a saleyard, another property or an abattoir require a PigPass National Vendor Declaration (NVD) to accompany them.

Selling: Complete a PigPass NVD online up to 5 days before the movement.

Buying: Record the movement into the PigPass database within 2 days of pigs arriving on your property from another location.

Get more information and order your PigPass NVD form on Pig Pass.

Selling a pig in NSW

Tina wants to sell a couple of her pigs to Alan. 

So she:

  • checked her pigs are healthy
  • checked her pigs are fit for the intended journey
  • made sure it isn't too hot for them to travel
  • identified the pigs through a tattoo or an NLIS accredited tag

 

4:04

Pig Tales—Selling a pig in NSW —Tina's story

Read transcript
Video transcript

Pig Tales—Selling a pig in NSW —Tina's story

Tina has a farm in tule buck in New
South Wales an ongoing drought meant
that Tina's farm wasn't growing much
feed she decided to sell some animals so
it was easier to feed what was left
Tina puts the pigs for sale online Ellen
from Albury called Tina and arranged to
buy two of her pigs one small pig and
one big sound before they left
Tina needed to complete three tasks one
check the pigs our healthy team who
looked at her copy of is it fit for the
intended journey this booklet is based
on the transport standards and can be
used as a guide to help check pigs
before they travel she followed the
recommendations and checked her pigs
could bear weight on all four legs we're
in good condition had no wounds or signs
of illness such as panting Tina also
checked the weather forecast
she knew that pigs don't like to travel
in hot weather when it is more than 27
degrees Celsius to identify the pigs
pigs need to be identified before they
leave the property where they were born
pigs can be identified in two ways a
tattoo of the producers register swine
brand or a national livestock
identification system NL is accredited
pig ear tag Tina's small Pig is less
than 25 kilograms so it is too small to
tattoo Tina uses a yellow ear tag to
identify the small Pig as it was born on
her farm orange ear tags are used for
pigs born on a different farm Tina's sow
weighs more than 25 kilograms so it is
best to use a tattoo Tina calls local
Land Services to register a swine brand
which is linked to the property
identification code P IC on her farm
Tina didn't breed this out she got it
from her friend Gayle from goodnight
this means the sow already has a tattoo
on her left shoulder of gales swine
brand
Gayle swine brand is 676 / 767 Tina puts
her swine brand on the South right
shoulder Tina's swine brand is 123 / 456
three get a peek past national vendor
declaration Pig pass and VD a pig pass n
VD is a movement document used for pigs
it shows where the pigs have come from
and where they are going to tracking Pig
movements is important for disease
investigations and chemical residue
trace backs this ensures we can find all
the animals that could be affected
a pig pass NBD also includes important
food safety information to help prevent
chemicals from entering the food chain
tina logs onto the pig pass database at
Pig past comm today you Tina has already
registered with the site she logs in
with her username and password Tina
likes to use the free online pig pass n
VDS she knows that she could buy a paper
Pig pass n VD book if she preferred Tina
fills out the online form and prints
three copies one to keep and two to give
to the transporter Allen asks his friend
Tim the trucky to pick up his pigs for
him Tim has been moving pigs for a long
time he knows how to move sock and what
sort of trailer he needs Tim checks the
pigs to make sure they are identified
and healthy fit for the intended journey
Tina helps Tim load the pigs into his
trailer she hands him two copies of the
pig past NBD one for him to keep and one
for him to give to Alan when he gets to
Albury Alan needs the pig pass nvd to
complete the transfer on the pig past
database once the pigs have arrived in
Albury Tim leaves Tully buck with the
pigs
Tina is happy her pigs are healthy and
traceable she is protecting her farm and
her industry for further information
call local Land Services on one three
zero zero seven nine five two nine nine
pig pass helpdesk one eight zero zero
zero zero one four five eight

 

Alan wants to buy a couple of pigs for his 5ha block. As a conscientious stock owner, he does all of the right things:

  • reads the rules on moving pigs into and within NSW
  • called his local council to check he is allowed to keep pigs
  • got a Property Identification Code from Local Land Services
  • got a PigPass National Vendor Declaration from the seller
  • quarantining if there are any other animals on the farm
  • doesn't feed his pigs any swill.
3:00

Pig Tales—Buying a pig in NSW—Alan's story

Read transcript
Video transcript

Pig Tales—Buying a pig in NSW—Alan's story

Allen from Albury has five hectares of land. He has never had pigs or any other stock before, but he always wanted to. Allen saw Tina from Tully Buck was selling pigs online. Before buying them, Allen checked the rules for keeping pigs in New South Wales. He found the Responsible Pig Ownership and Moving Pigs Into and Within New South Wales Prime Facts on the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) website and made sure he followed all the steps.

He called his local council and checked that he was allowed to keep pigs. Allen then applied to Local Land Services for a Property Identification Code (PIC) for his land. A PIC is needed to identify any land—no matter how big or small—where livestock live.

Allen called Tina and arranged to buy two of her pigs: one little piglet and one big sow. Allen got his mate Tim the truckie to drive to Tully Buck to collect his new pigs. Tim arrived in Albury to deliver the two pigs and Allen’s copy of the PigPass National Vendor Declaration (NVD). Tina had given Tim two copies of the PigPass NVD—one for Tim to keep and one to give to Allen.

Allen checks the pigs are healthy and identified with an ear tag or a tattoo. Allen doesn’t have any other stock. If he buys more pigs, he knows to keep the new animals separate. Quarantining animals on arrival ensures any animals incubating disease are identified and not released to infect others. Once he knows the new animals are healthy, they can be introduced to the animals already on the farm.

Allen has two days after getting the pigs to record the movement of the pigs from Tina’s farm to his on the PigPass database. Allen registers on the PigPass database and logs in using his username and password. He clicks on the P2P Movement button—this allows people to transfer pigs from property to property. Allen types in the serial number of the PigPass NVD and presses Look Up. He makes sure Tina’s property PIC (NA123456) shows up as the source PIC on the screen. Allen then fills in his PIC (NC785432) as the destination. He fills in other information from the PigPass NVD onto the database.

Allen has to keep the PigPass NVD for three years, so he puts it in his filing cabinet. Allen goes and feeds his pigs some commercial pig food he bought from his local rural store. He knows that pigs should not be fed meat scraps, as this can spread disease.

Allen is happy he has healthy pigs that are traceable from where they were born to where they are now. He knows he is looking out for his farm, the rest of New South Wales, and all of Australia.

For further information, call Local Land Services on 1300 795 299 or the PigPass Helpdesk.

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