Federated Farmers will maintain very close scrutiny of the National Animal Identification and Tracing (Nait) scheme, its effectiveness and cost, saying it is still "highly dubious of the claimed benefits".
Implementation of the controversial scheme will begin for cattle on July 1 next year. It was to have been November 1 this year, but the date was deferred.
Federated Farmers would support members by ensuring they got the briefings, instruction and detail on how to be compliant with Nait by July, president Bruce Wills said.
"Federated Farmers has worked hard to ensure what will become law is practical and effective, will have the least impact on the bottom line and won't become a technological orphan.
"Other concerns we've expressed, sometimes strongly, revolve around ownership and control of the immense intellectual property Nait will accumulate. Finally, farmers want to know the data they provide won't be used for other purposes.
"Nait has taken many of these concerns on board. Federated Farmers has been the farmer's watchdog and we've caught things well before they've gone public."
Former Federated Farmers national president Don Nicolson, who is now agriculture spokesman for Act New Zealand, described the scheme as "a lemon".
The Nait Bill would not improve what the industry already had. The existing national animal-tracing system was sufficient and Mr Nicolson described Nait as the "ultimate bureaucrat's dream".
Farmers are being given updated advice about tagging rules for cattle and deer before the introduction of the scheme. The Animal Health Board and Nait Ltd have produced a guide for farmers based on the most common scenarios covering movement of animals for grazing, sale or slaughter. The guide to ear-tagging requirements is on both organisations' websites, www.tbfree.org.nz and www.nait.co.nz.